The Berlin Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is the biggest of the three war memorials the USSR left in Berlin after the end of the Second World War.
It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky as a memorial for 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the Battle of Berlin between April and May 1945. It opened four years after World War II on May 8, 1949, and it used to serve as the central war memorial in East Berlin.
When you walk around this war memorial, it is quite easy to spot flowers placed there as a reminder that some people still think they owe their lives and freedom to these men who perished in battle so many years ago. Personally, I have mixed feelings about that after reading A Woman in Berlin and learning about the culture of rape that happened after the war was over.
Visiting the War Memorial in Treptower Park
When you arrive at the Berlin Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, it hard to avoid looking at the vast, twelve meters high, a statue that lies as the central point there. The figure represents a Soviet soldier armed with a sword and crashing a swastika while he holds a child in his arms. It is supposed to look epic, and it sure does.
The sculpture was created by the same architect who designed the memorial Yakov Belopolsky, and it shows the deeds of Sergeant Nikolai Masalov, who decided to risk his life during the Battle of Berlin to save the life of a child stranded into the battlefield.
Besides that colossal statue, the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park has 16 stone sarcophagi, one for each of the republics under the USSR at the time, telling the story of the Second World War with their point of view.
It was a rainy evening when I found myself close to the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park. I think I was living in Berlin for less than six months and I never read anywhere about this place. But a walk without direction coming from Rathaus Neukölln brought me there, and I was glad I decided to take that walk.
When I arrived there, it was rainy and a little over eight in the evening. It was still bright since it was summer, but the weather wasn’t right, so I saw less than 5 people that day in Treptower Park. This absence of people made the place look even bigger and more epic. The location marked me and, every time a friend is visiting, I have to find time to bring them there. And you should do it too.
How to get to the Treptower Park Soviet Memorial
The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is really easy to get to once you take the train to Treptower Park U-Bahn station. It lays a little outside the tourist path in Berlin, but I am sure you are going to enjoy this place. You can search for Soviet War Memorial Treptow on Puschkinallee or just try the map below.
The pictures you can see here are from the very first time I visited the Soviet Memorial at Treptower Park, back in the spring of 2012. As you can imagine, the other pictures were taken from a drone, in the winter of 2020.
If you want to see more Soviet Memorials around Berlin, be sure to check out what we wrote about the one in Schonholzer Heide and a smaller one in Alt-Hohenschönhausen. Also, we have an article about winter in the Treptower Memorial and I believe you might like that.
Berlin Soviet War Memorial Treptow
Puschkinallee, 12435 Berlin
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