Berlin Pankow – Buch district, here stands the somewhat lesser known Buch Soviet Memorial on the edge of the Schlosspark. It is one of 12 Soviet memorials in Berlin.
After the Second World War, the Soviet Military Administration had several monuments erected in Germany. They were all intended to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Red Army during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945.
Some of these monuments are large, imposing and impossible to miss. In the Tiergarten just before the Brandenburg Gate is probably the most famous monument and in Treptower Park one of the largest monuments that I have seen so far. To these it attracts numerous Berlin visitors. Somewhat less known, but no less impressive is the monument in Schönholzer Heide. Almost forgotten and also rather inconspicuous is the Soviet Memorial in Buch.
Construction and design of the Soviet Memorial Buch
In 1946, Johann Tenne was commissioned by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany to design a monument to be erected in Buch. In 1947/48 the plan could be realized. Originally, a memorial and tomb were to be built in Buch. Initially, 200 soldiers were buried here. However, it was later decided to relocate the dead to Schönholzer Heide.
In a small demarcated part of the castle park now stands a monument, which visually resembles a pyramid obelisk on a granite pedestal. The Soviet Memorial Buch is decorated by limestone columns and bronze flames. On the top of the obelisk stands a bronze star.
The monument is built in the early classicist style and thus fits very harmoniously into the castle park.
Translation of the Russian text
Standing in front of the monument, one can discover two inscriptions. Firstly, there are the dates 1941-1945, which commemorate the period when the Soviet Union was at war with Germany.
The second inscription is written in Russian:
ВЕЧНАЯ СЛАВА ГЕРОЯМ ПАВШИМ ДЕНИЕ ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСТВА ОТ ИГА ФАШИЗМА
The translation should read something like this:
Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the struggle for the liberation of mankind from fascism
Tip:
A walk through Buch is worthwhile. Not only the castle park and the castle church are worth seeing, here was once the famous sanatoriums, of which you can still discover a lot in the townscape.
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