Berlin is currently preparing itself for winter, which means long meandering walks are not always top of the list. However, we at Miniloft think you should make an exception for the Soviet Memorial – a site that in our opinion, actually resonantes in a setting when the days turn shorter, and bleaker
After the end of the Second World War, three Soviet Memorial’s were constructed in Berlin – one in Tiergarten, one in Pankow and one in Treptower Park. This one, a vast space that serves as both memorial and cemetery, commemorates 5,000 of the 80,000 soldiers who died in the Battle of Berlin, the final battle of the war. Following Soviet victory in that battle, a competition was announced for the design of the memorial in the park. The winner was a combination of ideas from architect Jakow S. Belopolski, sculptor Jewgeni Wutschetitsch, painter Alexander A. Gorpenko and engineer Sarra S. Walerius, recycling stone from the demolished Reich Chancellory. The result is an impressive feat of Soviet style commemoration – most notable is Yevgeny Vuchetich’s monument featuring a Soviet liberator holding a German child next to a crumbled swastika – a dual purpose memorial exposing the shocking loss of life, and a triumph of victory.
The photos for this blog post were provided by Nick Simpson. Nick is a Berlin-based photographer who has for the last eight years or so, been building his own pinhole cameras and taking some fantastic, innovate photographs. You can see more of his work here.
Copyright: Nick Simpson