Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park)
| Soviet War Memorial | |
|---|---|
| Treptower Park | |
Visitors at the 65th Victory day celebration laying flowers
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| For Soviet war dead of the Battle of Berlin | |
| Established | May 8, 1949 |
| Location |
52°29′15″N 13°28′06″E / 52.48750°N 13.46833°ECoordinates: 52°29′15″N 13°28′06″E / 52.48750°N 13.46833°E near Berlin |
| Designed by | Yakov Belopolsky |
The Soviet War Memorial is a vast war memorial and military cemetery in Berlin's Treptower Park. It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky to commemorate 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin in April–May 1945. It opened four years after World War II on May 8, 1949. The Memorial served as the central war memorial of East Germany.
The monument is one of three Soviet memorials built in Berlin after the end of the war. The other two memorials are the Tiergarten memorial, built in 1945 in the Tiergarten district of what later became West Berlin, and the Soviet War Memorial Schönholzer Heide in Berlin's Pankow district.
At the conclusion of World War II, three Soviet war memorials were built in the city of Berlin to commemorate Soviet deaths in World War II, especially the 80,000 that died during the Battle of Berlin. The memorials are not only commemorative, but also serve as cemeteries for those killed.
A competition was announced shortly after the end of the war for the design of the park. The competition attracted 33 entries, with the eventual design a hybrid of the submissions of the architect Jakow S. Belopolski, sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich, painter Alexander A. Gorpenko and engineer Sarra S. Walerius. The sculptures, reliefs, and 2.5 meter diameter "Flammenschalen" (flame bowls) were cast at the Kunstgießerei Lauchhammer in 1948. The memorial itself was built in Treptower Park on land previously occupied by a sports field. The memorial was completed in 1949. The stones and granite that were used in the construction came from the demolished New Reich Chancellery.
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