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©2006-2009 ~zwanzig
:iconzwanzig:

Artist's Comments

Memorial to the Soviet War dead in Berlin - I dont know whether this is for military dead or for military and civilian - (approx 20,000,000 russian people died in WWII).

Yes there is a pidgeon on the Soviet soldiers head that I didnt notice until later. Yes I cloned some people out of this.

They built this in the part of berlin that fell under western influence so when the wall went up the soviet memorial was on the west side. I heard stories about the soviets going into the west to visit it in buses which were stoned by the locals throughout the cold war.

You get the feeling that this was designed to be very imposing and to inspire fear, not sure if it has the desired effect. The soviet father figure/soldier looks a bit partonising in my opinion.

I did a b/w version of this that I might upload later.


Not for manipulation.

Comments


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:iconscrewball2:
I actually saw this short of a year after the wall came down. It really pissed me off. The landscape of Eastern Germany as I took the train to Berlin was so incredibly impoverished and then here's this huge monument with gold lettering really seemed to me to show the injustice of that government.
:iconzwanzig:
I think when it was built the rest of the city was in rubble - I am thinking now that maybe I should have left those 2 people in the shot to show off the scale of it.

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:icondeliogul:
Damn it is Russian... How many people know Russian in Berlin? The heart of the German people has a Soviet monument. That’s some kind of a shame but from the artistic point of view, the structure is epic and it can give you the essence of the Soviet dream of the "great man" who saves the world from the dirt of the past to reach the zenith of the human mind...
:iconmetallijumala:
It's a rather starnge monument - It's hard to feel remorse for these people considering that we fought against them, but the figure of 20 million is still staggering. Especially when you consider the fact that only 9 million of these were military perssonel. A very impressive shot indeed, even if it doesn't bring out fear or awe it creates a sense of significance and remembrance. Btw, strange that they "forgot" to mention the Winter War in the years decipting the war :P, only the war against the Germans from 41 to 45 is mentioned there.

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Far away will our eyes now see the day
For today, the everlasting eternal sun
Washed away the dreams of a brighter day
Forever hold the dream inside the chance to fight another fight
The breaking hearts that stand for all our lives
Live tonight!
:iconzwanzig:
I think they have a selective memory on that one alright : ) Thanks for commenting.

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:iconmetallijumala:
No problem, great shot! ^^

--
Far away will our eyes now see the day
For today, the everlasting eternal sun
Washed away the dreams of a brighter day
Forever hold the dream inside the chance to fight another fight
The breaking hearts that stand for all our lives
Live tonight!
:iconlokans:
srry if i ask a dumb question, i didnät really udnerstand where this monument stands, it's look like a monument i have seen in kaliningrad russia :D
:iconzwanzig:
Hi - its in central berlin - about 200m from the Reichstag. I'd guess its a standard design and probably similair to others :)

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:icondaliscar:
This work featured here [link] :-)

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"Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument".

Carl Jung

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Details

December 26, 2006
385 KB
385 KB
1000×637

Statistics

12
17 [who?]
630 (0 today)
0 (0 today)

Camera Data

Canon
Canon EOS 20D
1/400 second
F/11.0
19 mm
400
Oct 6, 2006, 12:17:08 PM

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