Soviet War Memorial–Berlin

Erected in 1945 just after the fall of the city, this memorial is one of several built by the Soviets in Berlin. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of both Germany’s it was considered to be located in what was then the British sector. During the Cold War, Soviet guards from the Soviet sector (East Berlin)
stood in front of the memorial, no matter what the weather or time of the day. It was rumoured that the guards stood on air vents which could blow hot or cold air, but I don’t suppose we will ever know. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Located in the Tiergarten which is a large public park, the front of the memorial was bounded by the Straße des 17. Juni (17 June Street) which during the Cold War was closed to public transport. Tourist buses and members of the Allied Forces were allowed vehicular access to the road in front of the memorial but were not allowed to get out of their vehicles.

I have fond memories of my time in West Berlin during the Cold War. It was a vibrant city with so much to see and do but at the time my one regret was that i was never able to visit East Berlin where many of the historic buildings were located.

Years later I joined a company with offices in Berlin. Needless to say I managed to arrange several trips to rectify my previous inability to visit the East and first on my list was the Soviet War Memorial which you can freely walk around now…..and you know what. I forgot to look for those rumoured vents.
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Comments

  1. Hello Mike. Testing to see if I can post. A smashin rendition of this shot.

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    1. It's amazing to walk around Steve. I got there as the sun was starting to set which is one of the reasons the gold lettering stands out

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