Lenin monuments in the former socialist countries

Lenin monuments in the former Eastern Bloc is an overview of the statues and busts, including head reliefs, erected or existing in the socialist countries since 1924 in honor of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin . Memorial plaques are not included here, that would make the topic confusing. Due to the large number of monuments, it turned out to be necessary to make a subdivision according to geographical location.

overview

The named territory was created after the end of World War II , dominated by the Soviet Union . The other socialist countries in Europe, Asia and Central America formed the so-called Eastern Bloc , so they included the GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania as well as the People's Republics of China , Mongolia , Vietnam and Cuba . The socialist countries also included Albania, which from 1970 onwards followed its own path in rejecting the Soviet Russian and Chinese variants. The ideology of socialism / communism dominated state politics. At the same time, a personality cult was practiced in these countries around the theoreticians of this social order Karl Marx , Friedrich Engels , (until 1960) Josef Wissarionowitsch Stalin and Lenin. The town and country communities erected numerous monuments , some as busts and some as statues, for the people mentioned. With the end of socialism around 1990, a number of sculptures were dismantled: smashed and recycled, melted down, brought into swamps or buried in sand pits, re-erected in monument parks or sold to interested parties.

→ See also Stalin monuments

Overview by country, city and location

Contents A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Former Soviet Republics

These are arranged alphabetically with their names that have been in effect since the dissolution of the USSR .

Former Yugoslavia

The Federation was not part of any bloc . Therefore, any sculptures that may have existed are presented in the article Lenin monuments in the non-socialist countries under their successor republics.

Former Czechoslovakia

The Lenin monuments in this former socialist state have been included in the newly formed countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia .

Abkhazia

• Gudauta : statue on a high stone pedestal (preserved, state 2012)
• Village Blaburchwa near Sukhumi : metallic painted statue on concrete base

Albania

• Tirana (removed in 1991)
• Shkodra

Armenia

• Yerevan , Lenin Square (Ploshchad Lenina), now Hanrapetutyan hraparak (Republic Square), statue, erected in 1940, eliminated in 1991

Azerbaijan

• Baku , eliminated on August 27, 1991.

Bulgaria

• Capital Sofia , stood on Lenin Square until 1991; the statue was dismantled and placed in the park of the Museum of Socialist Art . However, there are two sculptures there - a standing woman with a waving coat made of sandstone, a seated woman and a large head made of bronze. The square is now called Sweta Nedelja-Platz after the church there, and instead of the monument there is a column with the figure of St. Sophia , the city's patron saint.

• General Toschewo : The statue of Lenin that was present here has been reworked into a “white swallow”.

• Plovdiv : was removed

Source and photos:

Commons : Statues of Lenin in Bulgaria  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

China

• Beijing : on Tiananmen Square, replaced after 1990 by monuments of Chinese leaders.

GDR

Numerous Lenin monuments were erected on the territory of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The best known were the monuments in Eisleben , Berlin , Dresden and Merseburg . They were found in almost every large city, but also in smaller places. There were very different explanations. There were busts of Lenin in Halle-Neustadt or Weimar , in Leipzig, where Lenin stayed several times, there were a number of memorial plaques , in Saßnitz there is still a plaque on a stone, in Dresden and Merseburg there were larger-than-life statues that partly linked to other contexts. The Lenin sculpture stands on Hamburger Allee in Schwerin on a land reform monument. The Lenin Monument in Berlin was 19 meters high, making it the largest in the GDR, and was featured on the 20-pfennig issues of the series of stamps Aufbau in der GDR . While the Lenin monument in Eisleben is the first in Germany and was erected before the GDR was founded, the erection of further monuments remained common for all decades of the history of the GDR. (The federal states chosen here for subdivision were only introduced in 1990. In the GDR, the cities belonged to one of the 15 districts .)

→ Main article : Lenin monuments on the territory of the former GDR

Estonia

• Narva : implemented from the city center to the castle courtyard
• Tallinn : stood on Lukiskius Square and was overthrown on August 19, 1991
• Tartu : The 4 m high bronze monument that had been here was dismantled and offered to Finland for takeover in around 2000. It is not known where it is now (in spring 2014).

Georgia

• Tbilisi : a statue was on Freedom Square. This was removed in 1990 after independence and a fountain was installed in its place .

Kazakhstan

Statue in Almaty

Almaty (photo opposite) Aralsk Baikonur in front of the Kosmo cultural building

Karaganda (see photo here ) Pavlodar : until 1990 on Lenin Square in front of the government building. Then moved to a small park on Lenin Street. (Photo with description see here )

Kyrgyzstan

• Bishkek : Erected in Ala Too Square in 1984 , demolished in August 2003.
• Balyktschy (see photo here ), gilded, in front of a government building
• Kochkorata in the Jalalabat region (see photo here )
• Osh (see photo here ); Bronze on a red granite pedestal

Cuba

Hill with portrait in Havana

• Capital Havana : Colina Lenin , portrait that has existed since 1924
• Havana: In Lenin Park, a bust made of white marble, connected as a monolith with a greatly simplified square flag; the style is considered neocubism , inaugurated in 1984. Sculptor Lev Kerbel

Latvia

• Daugavpils
• Riga : The sculptor was Karlis Jansons. The memorial stood on Kirowstrasse and was dismantled on October 17, 1990.
• In the Castle Museum Consult a Lenin statue is symbolically buried: the figure was in an open box set.

Lithuania

All statues were dismantled after 1991 and some of them were later re-erected in Grutas Park . They were all erected during the Soviet Union and were located in Vilnius , among others (there were at least two statues in the capital, one of which stood next to a statue of the leader of the Lithuanian Communist Party, Kapsukas ). A public display of communist monuments has been punished by the state since the late 1990s. There were Lenin monuments in the following places:

Vilnius: This statue was dismantled in 1991. Druskininkai Jonava : unveiled in 1984, sculptor K. Bogdanas Jurbarkas (the Jurbarkaser Lenin is now part of an installation in the Europos Parkas in Vilnius)

Kaunas : unveiled in 1970, sculptor N. Petrulis Klaipėda : inaugurated in 1976, sculptor G. Jokubonis; Dismantled in 1991 Palanga : inaugurated in 1971 by the sculptor Yevgeny Wuchetich Šiauliai : on Aušros avenue

Moldova

Statue in Tiraspol

Tighina Briceni town in Briceni district Chișinău : moved from the city center to a suburb after the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Comrat , capital of the Gagauz in Moldova. The stone Lenin monument stands in front of the seat of government, a modern concrete and steel structure. Tiraspol : see the photo opposite

Commons : Statues of Lenin in Moldova  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Mongolia

• Capital Ulan Bator
  The monument was dismantled on October 14, 2012.
• First location unclear.
  Parked in a field near the River Cherlen

Poland

Statue in Poronin

Czyżewo (German: Zeising ) in the Rypin district : a Lenin monument, probably erected around 1940, stood here on the market square. During the Second World War , the German occupiers forced the local Jews to demolish the memorial and throw the remains into the river. This is what happened on July 5, 1941.

Krakow (in the Nowa Huta district ): 7 ton bronze monument erected in 1973 on an approximately 3 meter high base. Damaged by an explosion in 1979; In 1989 a Swedish private art collector bought the statue. Legnica , demolished after 1991 Poronin near Zakopane (photo opposite)

Romania

Overturned statue in the Mogoșoaia castle grounds

• Bucharest , erected in front of the Casa Presei Libere on Scintela Square in April 1960, demolished in March 1990, then broken into larger parts and carried away on the Danube in 1994 by ship . The pedestal of the monument has remained and a Hydra sculpture was placed on it in 2012 . This reshapes the body of Lenin, but on top is the legendary hydra with seven snake heads. According to one photographer, this symbolizes "the lack of morality in the Romanian political class, past and present".
• Mogoșoaia Castle : a statue made of stone and copper was placed on the grounds of the castle park. Their origin is not known.

Russia

The overview of monuments in this large country is based on the territorial division into eight federal districts that was valid in 2013 . A total of around 2000 Lenin sculptures should exist. In a publication it can be read that in the former Soviet Union the statues of Lenin formed an absolute majority of all monuments erected and in 2001 they still topped the ranking. From the multitude mentioned there are the Russian Lenin monuments in a separate table.

→ Main article : Lenin monuments in Russia

Slovakia

Bratislava : Lenin Square (Leninovo námestie), now Jakubovo námestie, bust, is in the store of the Slovak National Gallery Galanta : placed in the main town square in 1972, bronze statue, since 1998 in the garden of a restaurant on Hodská 1596/50 Košice : Trieda SNP 42 in front of the KSČ headquarters , bronze statue by the sculptor Arpád Račko, inaugurated on November 4, 1987, dismantled in 1990, now in the depot of the East Slovak Museum in Košice-Šaca.

Nitra : Lenin Square (Leninovo námestie), now Svätoplukovo námestie, bronze statue by the sculptor Tibor Bártfay, erected in 1974, dismantled in 1990 (since then in the depot of the municipal services; status February 2015) Poprad : Lenin Square (Leninovo námestie) in front of the hospital, bronze statue by the sculptor Emil Wenkow, erected in 1988, dismantled in 1989 and sold to Seattle in the USA in 1995 Žilina : Lenin Square (Leninovo námestie), bust of the sculptor Ján Kulich, erected in 1971, removed in 1990, now there is a shopping center on the site of the monument.

Tajikistan

• Dushanbe
• Khujand
• Chorugh

Czech Republic

Statue, now in the museum

Prague , náměstí Říjnové revoluce (October Revolution Square), now Vítězné náměstí, statue, removed in 1989/90. Another monument is in the Museum of Communism . Benešov : a bust erected in 1977 or 1979 Brno : inaugurated on April 22, 1974; Sculptors M. Axmann and F. Kotschi Čelákovice : a bust erected in 1978 Česká Lípa : inaugurated October 31, 1987 Cheb (see photo here ), implemented in an inner courtyard Děčín : inaugurated in 1973 Havířov : erected on November 6, 1976. Mined and melted down in March 1990. The melt was used to make a monument to the Lidice children .

Hradec Králové Karlovy Vary : inaugurated May 1, 1966; from the workshop of Vladimir Reich Kladno Olomouc (see photo here ); apparently brought to a park with other dismantled monuments. Perštejn Pilsen : Around 1958; set up in front of the Lenin works (today Škoda (mechanical engineering) ) Podbořany : A relief with a Lenin head erected in May 1928 on the property of a people's home association. Had to be removed in 1931 by order of the district administration. Poděbrady

(Source and photos)

Statue in Chornomorsk

Ukraine

The more than 70 statues of Lenin that have been erected since the 1920s are listed in a separate lemma. The list also contains the current status (existing, destroyed, dismantled; as of January 2014).

→ Main article : Lenin monuments in Ukraine

Commons : Statues of Lenin in Ukraine  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Hungary

Here, after the fall of the Wall, no monuments were to be torn down or destroyed, but rather dismantled and set up in a specially created park of the fallen heroes . This is what was called Szoborpark after it was opened in 1993 .

• Capital Budapest : Dózsa György út, unveiled in 1965, now in Szoborpark; the time wheel set up in 2004 is at the previous location of the Lenin monument.
• Csepel district of Budapest : in front of the metal works, now also in Szoborpark
• Kecel : Hadipark (Arms Museum)
• Siófok : a statue of Lenin made by Imre Varga and preserved from destruction, which stood in Kaposvár until 1990 . According to an interview with the sculptor, there were still Lenin monuments in Vác and Gödöllő .

Uzbekistan

• Tashkent : 1936, granite, Boris Korolev

Vietnam

• Capital Hanoi

Belarus

The newly formed government learned lessons from history after the Second World War: At that time, the Soviet Republic had let churches and religious institutions slide. Parliament has now prevented the dismantling of the communist monuments by law. In November 1992, all objects were given monument protection that historians had classified as being of intellectual, aesthetic and documentary value.

Ashyany (see photo here ) Babrujsk (see photo here ) Baranavichy (see photo here ) Baryssau : bronze colossal statue on natural stone pedestal. || Lenin is leaning on the tabletop, a bronze flag is waving in front of it. (August 2011) Bereza : stone bust on gray granite stele (photo on panoramio) Brest : stands on Lenin Square in front of a Soviet star on a facade wall Bychau (see photo here ) Homel (photo from 2006 see here ) Grodno : bronze sculpture on a pedestal clad with red natural stone slabs on Lenin Square; Iŭje in the Hrodsenskaja Woblasz : metallic painted bust on a concrete stone base (2011) Kapyl (see photo here ) Krytschau (see photo here ) Masalawa (see photo here )

Capital Minsk : erected in front of the government building, 1934. Sculptor: Matwei Maniser Mozyr Petrykau (see photo here ) Pinsk (see photo here ) Polatsk (see photo here ) Rahatschou (see photo here ) Rechitsa Salihorsk (see photo here ) Schabinka (see photo here ) Slonim (see photo here ) Sluzk (see photo here ) Skidal in the Hrodsenskaja Woblasz ; photo Usda (see photo here ) Wetka (see photo here ) Vitebsk Vysokaye (see photo here )

See also

• Lenin monument

literature

• Vasile Dumbrava: What are we going to do with Lenin? Monument in a multi-ethnic area: Republic of Moldova. In: Ulf Brunnbauer , Stefan Troebst (ed.): Between nostalgia and amnesia: The memory of communism in Southeast Europe . Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2007 (= visual history culture, 2).

Web links

Commons : Lenin monuments by country  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pictures of the inauguration of the Lenin monument in Dresden in 1974 (Deutsche Fotothek) ; accessed on January 12, 2014.
• In Thuringia there are only a few Lenin relics left (Thüringer Allgemeine; December 10, 2013) ; accessed on January 12, 2014.
• Dealing with the monuments. A research in Brandenburg (Regina Scheer) ; accessed on January 12, 2014.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Photo of the statue of Lenin in Gudauta on panoramio.com
2. ↑ Photo of the statue of Lenin in Blaburchwa on panoramio.com
3. ^ Photo (by Helmut Appelt) of the Lenin monument in Albania ; Retrieved September 29, 2010.
4. ↑ Stalin and Lenin still watch over the ideological purity : Reprint of an article from 1981 (PDF; 677 kB); Retrieved September 29, 2010.
5. ↑ View of the statue of Lenin in Yerevan ( memento of the original from February 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ^ The other Europe - Bulgaria . Section Bulgaria's socialist museum coming - but not today ; accessed on January 16, 2014.
7. ^ Tsar Liberator Redeemer ; (pdf; 5.88 MB); Retrieved February 12, 2016.
8. ^ Arnold Bartetzky: New States - New Pictures ?. Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar, 2005, ISBN 978-3-412-14704-4 , p. 216 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
9. ↑ Monumental Debate (English) on sofiaecho.com ; accessed on January 16, 2014.
10. ↑ Reproduction / text of historical reports of the Beijing Rundschau : Chairman Mao and Vice Chairman Lin Biao celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China together with the masses of Beijing and representatives from all parts of China (below the demo photo from 1969) ; Retrieved September 29, 2010.
11. ↑ Brief information on Estonia on skandinavien.de ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ^ Volker Hagemann: Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius. Trescher Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-897-94105-2 , p. 220 ( limited preview in Google book search).
13. ↑ Aldo Keel: A Monument to Lenin? In: nzz.ch. January 19, 2008, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
14. ↑ Tbilisi on a blog spot; accessed on January 15, 2014.
15. ^ Wiener Zeitung Online: Hope is the last to die. In: wienerzeitung.at. January 22, 1999, archived from the original on March 6, 2010 ; Retrieved February 18, 2015 . 
16. ↑ Kirill Sergeev: Panoramio - Photo of В.И. Ленин. In: panoramio.com. June 24, 2013, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
17. ^ Ingeborg Ruthe: Lew Kerbels Monuments . In: Berliner Zeitung , November 2, 2018, p. 24.
18. ^ Political culture (picture of the dismantling of the Lenin monument in Vilnius). In: mona-lisa.org. December 18, 2008, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
19. ↑ Esinescu: Chisinau, city of headaches (pdf; 104 kB); here page 5. Retrieved September 29, 2010
20. ↑ Thomas Schmid: A torn country. IN: Berliner Zeitung of Nov. 26, 2014, p. 3.
21. ↑ Travel report Mongolia between Russia and China Mongolia between Russia and China ( Memento from October 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
22. ↑ Batjav Tsanjid: Panoramio - Photo of Good bye Lenin! In: panoramio.com. October 17, 2012, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
23. ↑ Eugene Prygoff: Panoramio - Photo of Goodbye, Lenin. In: panoramio.com. September 25, 2012, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
24. ↑ Tomasz Strzembosz: The Descent of Satan or the Arrival of the Gestapo (working translation from Polish); Original in the magazine Rzeczpospolita. No. 110, of May 12, 2001 ( Memento of November 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
25. ↑ Jerzy Ziaja: NOWA HUTA - a communist phenomenon A personal memory of the 60s and 70s. In: polonia-viva.eu. February 26, 2013, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
26. ^ Bishop in the casino . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1994 ( online ).
27. ↑ Anke Stefan: Poland's Minister of Justice owes resignation. In: neue-deutschland.de. February 14, 2009, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
28. ↑ On the sunny side . In: Der Spiegel . No. 34 , 1964 ( online ).
29. ↑ On the Danube (English) . Photo of the Danube passage of the broken Romanian statue of Lenin; Target not named. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
30. ↑ Streets of Bucharest ( scroll down to "Lenin"); accessed on January 16, 2014.
31. ↑ BBC News - EUROPE - Russia's respect for yo. In: news.bbc.co.uk. June 11, 2001, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
32. ↑ Michal Hvorecký: Dealing with the socialist past - past politics. In: goethe.de. 2012, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
33. ↑ Paul Nechkova-Raven: Panoramio - Photo of bratislava 1978 "Leninovo Námestie". In: panoramio.com. October 28, 2007, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
34. ↑ Cheers, Lenin! / Nazdravie, Lenin! In: flickr.com. September 30, 2010, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
35. ↑ Depozitář each pre Lenina čakárňou. Do krčmy i do múzea . In: Pravda , April 24, 2010 (Slovak)
36. ↑ 50 rokov Terasy - 12. časť ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . www.fotokosice.eu (Slovak) 
37. ↑ O bronzové sochy Lenina a Gottwalda nemá nikto záujem . Cassovia Digitalis, February 15, 2007 (Slovak)
38. ↑ Lenin Monument in Košice on www.kosicednes.sk
39. ^ Website of the city of Nitra
40. ↑ Private travelogue online with photos and text about the Lenin statue in Seattle ; accessed on January 13, 2014
41. ^ Google Street View: Seattle, Fremont Pl N
42. ↑ Came zmizol Lenin ?! ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Žilinec, October 21, 2012, p. 5 (Slovak) 
43. ↑ Sentiment on the background 2009 ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Pavlína Fichta. Čierna. selected works 2000–2010, p. 19 
44. ↑ Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan on anderswo.kakiarts.de : Photo of the Lenin monument in Chorough (here Khorugh transcribed ); accessed on January 15, 2014.
45. ↑ Lenin Monument in Pilsen on sudetenpost.eu from 1985/4 (only title is displayed); accessed on January 15, 2014.
46. ↑ Původní znění ad 1305 / XIV. Interpellation by the deputies Haiblick, Dr. Stern and comrades to the Minister of the Interior, about the unheard of action by the district captain in Podersam. : enter "Lenin" in the search window; accessed on January 15, 2014.
47. ↑ Source and photos of the Czech Lenin monuments
48. ^ Rasso Knoller: Hungary: Budapest, in the park of the fallen "heroes". In: weltreisejournal.de. September 30, 2013, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
49. ↑ Budapest - City Park ; accessed on October 1, 2014.
50. ↑ See the photo (2012) with map position sweethomehu: Panoramio - Photo of Kecel, hadipark, Lenin. In: panoramio.com. December 23, 2012, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
51. ↑ Christa Nickel - Imre Varga in conversation ; accessed on January 13, 2014.
52. ^ Annette Tietenberg: Iconoclasm in Eastern Europe. Conference of the German National Committee of ICOMOS and the Institute for Foreign Relations (February 18-20, 1993) in: Kritischeberichte 2 (1994), page 74 ff ( Memento of February 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
53. ↑ gmbgreg: Panoramio - Photo of Vladimir i. O. from Borisov. In: panoramio.com. August 17, 2011, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
54. ↑ Nadne: Panoramio - Photo of Ленин в Берёзе. In: panoramio.com. July 25, 2013, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
55. ↑ Photo see here Belarus - Брэст (Brest) on Tabibito.de: Travels in near and far fields. In: tabibito.de. Retrieved February 18, 2015 . 
56. ↑ Anna Pronenko: Panoramio - Photo of Гродно, площадь Ленина /. In: panoramio.com. February 22, 2012, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
57. ↑ gmbgreg: Panoramio - Photo of Camarade Lenin. In: panoramio.com. August 17, 2011, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
58. ↑ Once Belarus and back ; Travel report (blog) by Martina Wiedemann; Retrieved September 29, 2010.
59. ^ Jurek Lem: Panoramio - Photo of Lenin in Skidel. In: panoramio.com. December 21, 2009, accessed February 18, 2015 .