The Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten) is one of several war memorials in Berlin, capital city of Germany, erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate its war dead, particularly the 80,000 soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces who died during the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945.
It is located in the Tiergarten, on the north side of the Strasse des 17 Juni (17 June Street) close by the Brandenburger Tor.
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View to the right on the Brandenburger Tor and entranche to the cemetary.This memorial was build in 1945, within a few months of the capture of the city. Early photographs show the memorial standing in a wilderness of ruins, the Tiergarten having been destroyed by incendiary bombs and then stripped of timber for firewood during the last months of the war. Today, it is surrounded by the extensive woodlands of the reconstituted Tiergarten. Although the memorial stood in the British sector of Berlin, its construction was supported by all the Allied powers. Throughout the Cold War, Soviet Guards were present at the memorial, sent out and changed regularly by Soviet occupying forces in the Soviet sector.
In 1946 a huge remembrance ceremony was held with all major powers present.
The memorial, built from stonework taken from the destroyed Reich Chancellery.
This had a two fold meaning, it solfed the logistical problems because the stones were nearby and it destroyed a symbol of the NAZI party.
The monument takes the form of a curved stoa topped by a large statue of a Soviet soldier.
It is set in landscaped gardens and flanked by two Red Army ML-20 152mm gun-howitzer artillery pieces and two T-34 tanks.
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These 2 tanks were the first Russian tanks to enter Berlin.
Behind the memorial is an outdoor museum showing photographs of the memorial's construction and giving a guide to other memorials in the Berlin area. A large Cyrillic inscription is written underneath the soldier statue, which is translated as "Eternal glory to heroes who fell in battle with the German fascist invaders for the freedom and independence of the Soviet Union". The Soviets built the statue with the soldier's arm in a position to symbolize the Red Army's putting down of the German National Socialist state.
Each of the 6 pilars shows the branches of the army.
The names on the wall are those of 34 soldiers whom died in the final days of the war in Berlin.
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The memorial was designed by architect Mikhail Gorvits with the monument of the Soviet soldier by sculptors Vladimir Tsigal and Lev Kerbel.
Source, Wiki with additional info from the guide at the memorial, pictures by the author.