What material is the Motherland statue made of? “The Motherland Calls” in Volgograd: eternal memory and glory

· 11/25/2015

Statue “The Motherland Calls!” located in the center of the memorial composition “To the Heroes Battle of Stalingrad" V hero city Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan.

Statue of the Motherland in Volgograd - general description and characteristics.

The statue is the compositional center of the monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad”. This is one of the tallest monuments in the whole world: height of the Motherland statue in Volgograd without a sword is 52 meters, and with the sword as much as 85! The weight of the statue without the sword is 8 thousand tons, the sword of the Motherland weighs 14 tons. Such height and power of the statue indicates strength and uniqueness.

The author of the Motherland statue in Volgograd is the sculptor Evgeniy Viktorovich Vuchetich, it was according to his design that the statue was built from May 1959 to October 1967. Statue “Motherland Calls!” on Mamayev Kurgan takes 11th place in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the tallest statue-monuments in the world. At night, the statue is illuminated with multi-colored lights. Sculpture “The Motherland Calls!” calls on people to unite and survive a difficult battle.

Who is the prototype of the sculpture of the Motherland on Mamayev Kurgan?

According to rumors, the prototype of the statue “Motherland Calls!” became three girls from Volgograd: Ekaterina Grebneva, Anastasia Peshkova and Valentina Izotova. But this fact was not confirmed by anything. Most likely it's just a rumor. There is also a legend that the “Motherland” is modeled after the Marseillaise figure, which is located on triumphal arch in Paris.

Statue “Motherland Calls!” in Volgograd - the history of construction.

Construction of the statue on Mamayev Kurgan began in 1959 and ended in 1967. The construction of the sculpture took exactly eight years, and that’s a lot. Since 1972, construction and reconstruction work has been periodically carried out on Mamayev Kurgan. In 1978, the sculpture was strengthened, stability calculations were carried out by Doctor of Technical Sciences Nikitin N.V. It was he who made the necessary calculations during the construction of the Ostankino Tower in Moscow. In 2010, work began to more effectively ensure the security of the monument.

As for the materials for constructing the statue, there were no restrictions on them. 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,500 metal structures were used for the construction and construction of the Motherland monument in Volgograd. Before construction began on Mamayev Kurgan, a foundation 15 meters deep was laid, on which a slab 2 meters high was installed. For the construction of the “Motherland”, 95 metal cables were used, it was they that held the frame of the statue in an upright position. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the statue is about 30 cm.

Sword of the Motherland.

Motherland Sword Length reaches 33 meters, the weight of the sword is 14 tons. It was originally made of steel. Over time, due to strong winds, the structure was deformed, and an unpleasant sound of metal appeared. In 1972, the sword was reconstructed: the blade was replaced with a new one, more resistant to weather conditions. This blade was made from fluorinated steel.

The statue “The Motherland Calls” in Volgograd is an integral part triptych. Its first part is located in Magnitogorsk and is called “Rear to Front!” The second part is “Motherland” in Volgograd. The third part, “Warrior Liberator,” is located in Treptower Park in Berlin.

According to the original idea, the Motherland was supposed to hold a banner in her hands instead of a sword, and a soldier was supposed to stand at her feet, kneeling.

Why was the statue installed on Mamayev Kurgan?

The place where the majestic monument was erected was not chosen by chance. 200 meters from statues of the Motherland in Volgograd there is the legendary height 102, behind which bloody battles took place for 140 days during the Second World War. Mamayev Kurgan evokes a feeling of pride and pain among visiting tourists, forcing them to remember the sacrifices made in the name of the Great Victory, and all the feats performed by ordinary Soviet people, who were forced by difficult times to take up arms and stand up for defense. native land. The atmosphere at the feet of the majestic statue of the Motherland invariably makes you plunge into memories, because every centimeter of this land is soaked in the blood shed by valiant soldiers, Defenders of the Fatherland. That is why the place for the monument Soviet soldiers Mamayev Kurgan was chosen. The Motherland Memorial was cast right here, only the head and sword were created separately and installed using helicopters. The work was carried out according to a model reduced tenfold, installed next to the future monument. Construction was in full swing both day and night: Soviet authorities strived to complete the construction as quickly as possible. In those days, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the world and was even listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Over the years, its height has been surpassed by other statues, and today it ranks only eleventh on the list.

Few people have been able to visit the Motherland statue in Volgograd; only occasionally excursions are held here for high-ranking officials. There are no observation platforms: only scientists tasked with monitoring the condition of the “Motherland Calls” statue manage to visit the tip of the sword, where they monitor the readings of installed sensors. To carry out this work, scientists have to climb on foot to the very top of the sculpture, because there are no elevators here.

Recently, rumors have appeared that the statue “The Motherland is Calling!” may fall, but local workers and scientists assure that the statue is not in danger of falling. To avoid this, to this day there are special niches at its foot designed for installing jacks, with the help of which the statue will be secured in time and installed in its original place. These niches were designed simultaneously with the construction of the statue of the Motherland itself, and to date they have never been used for their intended purpose. As is known, the most best materials, and from the inside the statue of the Motherland is reinforced with stretched metal cables, which still securely hold the Motherland in its original place.

The statue “The Motherland Calls” on Mamayev Kurgan remains the main attraction and pride of the city of Volgograd and all of Russia as a whole. Despite the fact that it is no longer the tallest statue in the world, for the people it has not lost its greatness. More than one generation of Russians and guests of the country will be able to come to statue of the Motherland in Volgograd, to express gratitude to the defenders of the Fatherland, in whose honor the Motherland raises its sword to the skies.

The Great Patriotic War will forever remain in the hearts of absolutely every person. War is a terrible event, pain and tears. In memory of these terrible events V different corners monuments are erected throughout the country, this is gratitude and eternal memory to our grandfathers and great-grandfathers - the soldiers who gave us life. There are monuments to the Motherland in many parts of not only our country, but throughout globe. Thus, the Motherland can be found in Belarus, Germany, Spain, Latvia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. In total, you can count about twenty-five monuments to the Motherland. Of these, thirteen are located in Russian cities.

Motherland in the cities of Russia

The sculpture “The Motherland Calls” in Volgograd is the compositional center of the monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad”, located. This statue is one of the tallest in the world, ranking 11th in the Guinness Book of Records. At night, the monument is illuminated by spotlights.

Monument “The Motherland Calls!” made according to the design of the sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and engineer N. V. Nikitin. The sculpture represents the figure of a woman with a sword raised up. This monument is an allegorical image of the Motherland, calling on all people to unite to defeat the enemy. Drawing an analogy, we can compare the statue “The Motherland is Calling!” with the ancient goddess of victory Nike of Samothrace, who also calls on her children to repel the invaders. Silhouette of the sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!” depicted on the flag and coat of arms of the Volgograd region.

The peak for the construction of the monument was formed artificially. Before this the highest point Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd there was a territory located 200 meters from the current peak. Now there is the Church of All Saints.

History of the construction of the monument “The Motherland Calls”

Construction of the monument “The Motherland Calls” lasted for eight years (from May 1959 to October 1967). At the time of its creation, this sculpture was the tallest monument in the world. In 1972 and 1986, restoration work was carried out on the main monument of Mamayev Kurgan, and in 2010 work began to ensure its safety.

As a prototype of the statue “The Motherland is Calling!” in Volgograd they named themselves Anastasia Peshkova, Ekaterina Grebneva and Valentina Izotova. However, this information has not yet been officially confirmed.

It took 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal structures to create the monument without a pedestal. The total height of the sculpture is 85 m (according to some sources, 87 m). Before the construction of the memorial began, a foundation 16 m deep was dug in the Mamayev Kurgan, and a 2-meter slab was installed on it. The height of the 8-ton statue of a woman-mother is 52 meters.

To ensure the rigidity of the frame, 99 metal cables are used, which are in constant tension. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the monument does not exceed 30 cm, inner surface The sculpture is made of separate chambers, similar to the structure of a residential building.

Initially, the 33-meter sword weighing 14 tons was made of stainless steel in a titanium sheath. However, the colossal size of the statue caused the sword to sway violently, especially in windy weather. As a result, the structure was deformed, the sheets of titanium casing of the sword shifted, and an unpleasant metallic grinding sound occurred when swaying. To eliminate these phenomena, a reconstruction was carried out in 1972, as a result of which the sword blade was replaced with another one made of fluorinated steel, with holes in the upper part to reduce windage. Six years later, the sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!” on the recommendation of the expert group, NIIZhB was strengthened. Stability calculations were carried out by the same author who calculated the stability of Ostankinskaya TV tower in Moscow - Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Nikitin.

Monument “The Motherland Calls!” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd is the second part of the triptych.

Its first part is located in Magnitogorsk and is called “Rear to Front!”

The third part, called “Warrior-Liberator”, is located in Treptower Park (Berlin, Germany). When creating the triptych, it was implied that the sword, which was forged by Ural blacksmiths, was raised by the Motherland in Stalingrad, and lowered by Soviet soldiers in Berlin, having won the Great Patriotic War.

Descendants fulfilled the will of the marshal Soviet Union, hero of the Second World War, participant in the Battle of Stalingrad Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov and, according to the will of the military leader, he was buried at the foot of the monument “The Motherland Calls!” A street in the Central district of Volgograd, on which Mamayev Kurgan is located, is also named after this commander.

Sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!” — composition center monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. One of the tallest statues in the world.

Above the Square of Sorrow rises a huge hill, which is crowned by the main monument - the Motherland. This is a mound about 14 meters high, in which the remains of 34,505 soldiers - defenders of Stalingrad are buried. A serpentine path leads to the top of the hill to the Motherland, along which there are 35 granite tombstones of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. From the foot of the mound to its top, the serpentine consists of exactly 200 granite steps 15 cm high and 35 cm wide - according to the number of days of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Mamayev Kurgan in the winter of 1945. On foreground— broken German RaK 40 cannon.

The end point of the path is the monument “The Motherland is calling!”, the compositional center of the ensemble, highest point mound. Its dimensions are enormous - the height of the figure is 52 meters, and total height of the Motherland - 85 meters(along with the sword). For comparison, the height famous statue Freedom without a pedestal is only 45 meters. At the time of construction, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the country and in the world. Later, the Kiev Motherland with a height of 102 meters appeared. Today is the same tall statue in the world is a 120-meter statue of Buddha, built in 1995 and located in Japan, in the city of Chuchura. Total weight Motherland - 8 thousand tons. In her right hand she holds steel sword, whose length is 33 meters and weighs 14 tons. Compared to the height of a person, the sculpture is increased 30 times. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the Motherland is only 25-30 centimeters. It was cast layer by layer using special formwork made from plaster materials. Inside, the rigidity of the frame is supported by a system of more than a hundred cables. The monument is not attached to the foundation and is held by gravity. Motherland stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. To enhance the effect of the monument being located at the very peak point of the mound, an artificial embankment 14 meters high was made.

Stalingrad, Mamayev Kurgan. In the foreground is the Renault UE Chenillette, a light French armored personnel carrier that was in service with the Wehrmacht.

As soon as the cannonade died down in Stalingrad, the grateful country began to think about what the monument to the creators of this war should look like. great victory. Drawings and sketches were sent not only by professionals, but also by people of completely different professions. Some sent them to the Academy of Arts, others to the State Defense Committee, some personally to Comrade Stalin. And everyone saw future monument grandiose, unprecedented in size, matching the meaning of the victory itself.

The All-Union competition was announced immediately after the war. All prominent Soviet architects and architects took part. The results were summed up ten years later. Although few doubted that the laureate would win Stalin Prize Evgeniy Vuchetich. By that time, he had already created a memorial in Berlin's Treptower Park and enjoyed the trust of the top officials of the state. On January 23, 1958, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to begin construction of the monument-ensemble on Mamayev Kurgan. In May 1959, construction began to boil.

In his work, Vuchetich addressed the theme of the sword three times - the sword is raised by the Motherland on the Mamayev Kurgan, calling for the expulsion of the conquerors; cuts with a sword fascist swastika The victorious warrior in Berlin's Treptower Park; the worker forges the sword onto the plow in the composition “Let’s beat swords into ploughshares,” expressing the desire of the people good will fight for disarmament in the name of peace on the planet. This sculpture was donated by Vuchetech to the United Nations and was installed in front of the headquarters in New York, and a copy of it was given to the Volgograd gas equipment plant, in whose workshops the Motherland was born). This sword was born in Magnitogorsk (during the war, every third shell and every second tank was made of Magnitogorsk metal), where the monument to the Rear Front was erected.

During the construction of the monument motherland in already finished project many changes have been made. Few people know that initially on the top of the Mamaev Kurgan there was supposed to be a sculpture of the Motherland with a red banner and a kneeling soldier on a pedestal (according to some versions, the author of this project was Ernst Neizvestny). According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to the monument. But subsequently Vuchetich changed the basic idea of ​​the monument. After the Battle of Stalingrad, the country faced more than 2 years of bloody battles and Victory was still far away. Vuchetich left the Motherland alone, now she called on her sons to begin the victorious expulsion of the enemy.

He also removed the pompous pedestal of the Motherland, which practically repeated the one on which his victorious Soldier stands in Treptower Park. Instead of monumental stairs (which, by the way, were already built), a serpentine path appeared near the Motherland. The Motherland itself has “grown” relative to its original size - its height has reached 36 meters. But this option was not final either. Soon after finishing work on the foundation of the main monument, Vuchetich (on Khrushchev’s instructions) increases the size of the Motherland to 52 meters. Because of this, the builders had to urgently “load” the foundation, for which 150 thousand tons of earth were placed in the embankment.

In the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow, at Vuchetich’s dacha, where his workshop was located and today the architect’s house-museum, you can see working sketches: a reduced model of the Motherland, as well as a life-size model of the statue’s head.

In a sharp, swift impulse, a woman stood up on the mound. With a sword in her hands, she calls on her sons to defend the Fatherland. Her right leg is slightly laid back, her torso and head are vigorously turned to the left. The face is stern and strong-willed. Knitted eyebrows, wide open, screaming mouth, blown by gusts of wind short hair, Strong arms, form-fitting long dress, the ends of the scarf blown by gusts of wind - all this creates a feeling of strength, expression and an irresistible desire to move forward. Against the background of the sky, she is like a bird soaring in the sky.

The sculpture of the Motherland looks great from all sides at any time of the year: in summer time, when the mound is covered with a continuous grass carpet, and winter evening- light, illuminated by spotlights. The majestic statue, protruding against the background of the dark blue sky, seems to grow out of the mound, merging with its snowy cover.

The work of the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich and engineer N.V. Nikitin represents a multi-meter figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword. The statue is an allegorical image of the Motherland, calling its sons to fight the enemy. IN artistic sense the statue represents modern interpretation image ancient goddess victory for Nika, who calls on her sons and daughters to repel the enemy and continue the further offensive.

Construction of the monument began in May 1959 and was completed on October 15, 1967. The sculpture at the time of its creation was the tallest sculpture in the world. Restoration work at the Main Monument of the monument-ensemble were held twice: in 1972 and 1986, in particular in 1972 the sword was replaced.

The prototype of the sculpture was Valentina Izotova (according to other sources, Anastasia Antonovna Peshkova, a graduate of the Barnaul Pedagogical School in 1953).

68-year-old Valentina Izotova was the model for the creation of the famous Russian Motherland memorial. For almost 40 years she did not talk about the fact that she participated in its creation.

Could I refuse when the sculptors asked me to sit for a statue in memory of the enormous losses suffered by the Red Army at Stalingrad? But I was horrified when they said I had to pose nude.

It was the early 1960s, and decent women didn't take their clothes off in front of anyone but their husbands. Artists, even such respected and famous ones as Lev Maistrenko, who worked on the memorial, meant nothing to the 26-year-old woman.

It was Lev who approached me. I worked as a waitress in the main restaurant of the city, Volgograd - it is still there - and usually served the room reserved for high-ranking party functionaries and delegations. Leo said that I was beautiful and that I embodied everything physical and moral qualities ideal Soviet woman. Of course, I was flattered, how could it be otherwise?

Curiosity got the better of me and I agreed to pose. None of us had any idea how famous “Motherland” would become. Volgograd ( former Stalingrad) is known for this sculpture as well as for the battle that took place here.

My husband did not like the fact that I would pose for a group of artists sent from Moscow. He was terribly jealous and took me to every session to the studio they set up in an old gas apparatus factory.

After a while it became a job like any other, I hardly thought about the fact that I was standing in a swimsuit, and I was glad that I was paid three rubles a day, since at that time it was a decent amount. But only six months later I finally gave in to the sculptors’ persuasion to take off my bra and expose my breasts. But that was all. I was unshakable in my determination to maintain the remnants of modesty and not pose completely naked. It was unthinkable.

No one except relatives and closest friends knew about this. Soon after the sessions ended, I went to receive my first higher education: I have two diplomas - an economist and an engineer. Then I left Volgograd and began to live and work in Norilsk.

After the opening of the memorial in 1967, I thought little about it and moved on with my life.

In October 2010, work began to ensure the safety of the statue.

The sculpture is made from prestressed concrete blocks - 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal structures (excluding the base on which it stands).

The total height of the monument is 85-87 meters. It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. Height female figure- 52 meters (weight - over 8 thousand tons).

The statue stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. The statue stands freely on the slab, like a chess piece on a board.

The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is only 25-30 centimeters. Inside, the entire statue consists of individual chamber cells, like rooms in a building. The rigidity of the frame is maintained by ninety-nine metal cables that are constantly under tension.

The sword, 33 meters long and weighing 14 tons, was originally made of stainless steel covered with titanium sheets. The huge mass and high windage of the sword, due to its colossal size, caused the sword to sway strongly when exposed to wind loads, which led to excessive mechanical stress at the place where the hand holding the sword is attached to the body of the sculpture. Deformations in the sword's structure also caused the titanium plating sheets to move, creating an unpleasant sound of rattling metal. Therefore, in 1972, the blade was replaced with another one - consisting entirely of fluorinated steel - and holes were provided in the upper part of the sword, which made it possible to reduce its windage. The reinforced concrete structure of the sculpture was strengthened in 1986 on the recommendation of the NIIZHB expert group led by R. L. Serykh.

There are very few similar sculptures in the world, for example, the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the “Motherland” in Kyiv, the monument to Peter I in Moscow. For comparison, the height of the Statue of Liberty from its pedestal is 46 meters.

The most complex calculations of the stability of this structure were carried out by Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Nikitin, the author of the calculation of the stability of the Ostankino TV tower. At night, the statue is illuminated by spotlights.

“The horizontal displacement of the upper part of the 85-meter monument is currently 211 millimeters or 75% of what was allowed by calculations. Deviations have been going on since 1966. If from 1966 to 1970 the deviation was 102 millimeters, then from 1970 to 1986 - 60 millimeters, until 1999 - 33 millimeters, from 2000-2008 - 16 millimeters,” said the director of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve. Battle of Stalingrad" Alexander Velichkin.

Interesting Facts

• The sculpture “Motherland” is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest sculpture-statue in the world at that time. Its height is 52 meters, arm length is 20 meters and sword length is 33 meters. The total height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The weight of the sculpture is 8 thousand tons, and the sword - 14 tons (for comparison: the Statue of Liberty in New York is 46 meters high; the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro is 38 meters). On this moment The statue ranks 11th on the list of tallest statues in the world.
• Vuchetich told Andrei Sakharov: “The bosses ask me why her mouth is open, because it’s ugly. I answer: And she screams - for the Motherland... your mother! - shut up."
• There is a legend according to which, shortly after its creation, a man got lost in the sculpture; after that no one saw him. But it's just a legend
• The silhouette of the sculpture “Motherland” was taken as a basis when developing the coat of arms and flag of the Volgograd region

During construction, Vuchetich made changes to the project more than once. Little known fact: At first, the main monument of the ensemble was supposed to look completely different. At the top of the mound, the author wanted to place a sculpture of the “Motherland” with a red banner and a kneeling soldier. According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to it. They managed to be built when Vuchetich went to Khrushchev, the then leader of the country, and convinced him that it would be better if people began to climb a serpentine path to the top.

But these are not all the changes that the master made to the finished project. Valentina Klyushina, who was the deputy director of the memorial for many years, told me about how all this happened. During the years of the complex’s creation, she worked in the Volgograd City Executive Committee and supervised the construction.

- “Motherland” Vuchetich decided to leave alone. He also removed the pompous pedestal, almost identical to the one on which his Victorious Soldier stands in Treptower Park. The main figure became taller - 36 meters. But this option did not last long. The builders barely had time to make the foundation when the author increased the size of the sculpture. Up to 52 meters! In the competition between superpowers, it was necessary for the main monument of the USSR to be higher than the American Statue of Liberty. It was necessary to urgently “load” the foundation so that it could support the 85-meter (including the sword) sculpture, weighing 8 thousand tons. 150 thousand tons of earth were then placed in the embankment. And since the deadlines were pressing, a military battalion was assigned to help the brigades.

There is also a problem with the current Hall military glory. It was planned to install a panorama canvas there. As soon as the “box” of the building was built, Vuchetich decided that the panorama should be placed separately. Which is what they did then. And in the finished structure along the perimeter of the walls there are mosaic banners with the names of the fallen defenders of the city. The author also quickly passed this question through the CPSU Central Committee.

There was also an embarrassment with these same banners. Here's what Klyushina said:

Masters from Leningrad worked with mosaics. And the art glass was supplied from the Ukrainian city of Lisichansk. Mosaicists laid out the interior as material became available. When everything was ready and the scaffolding was removed, everyone gasped. The tones on the wall were so different that it resembled chessboard. The deadline for the project was approaching. And Vuchetich had no choice but to call “up.” This time to Brezhnev. He immediately dialed the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Shelesta, and explained the task to him. In short, a few days later the cars were delivered to Volgograd with new glass.

Now imagine: it’s June, there are four months left before the opening of the memorial. And we need to restore the forests again, prepare and lay more than a thousand square meters multi-colored glass pieces. Here the legendary commander of the 62nd Army Vasily Chuikov helped a lot. By the way, he was Vuchetich’s main consultant on the project. 500 soldiers were assigned to the construction headquarters. The fighters worked like Stakhanov. Within three weeks, the interior of the hall acquired its intended form.

But these are not all the difficulties faced by the creators of the complex. In one of spring days the same 1967 critical situation folded with a 33-meter sword.

…As usual, Chief Engineer Volgogradgidrostroy Yuri Abramov went to work at the headquarters in the morning. On the way, he came across a flock of boys arguing... why is the sword in the hand of the “Motherland” swinging so much? Abramov raised his head and was horrified. They immediately carried out an operational investigation, and the very next day a special commission arrived from Moscow. It soon became clear that the designers did not take into account the data from many years of observations of the wind rose. So it turned out that the sword turned out flat in relation to the wind. We urgently had to make several holes in it so that it could ventilate freely. In addition, the commission generally recommended replacing the heavy titanium sword with a lighter steel one.

At the very end of the construction, 50 powerful spotlights were needed to illuminate the sculpture. They couldn't get them anywhere. The country at that time was preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution - and everything that was produced went to Moscow and Leningrad according to orders. Klyushina was sent to the capital to see the Chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee, Promyslov. He said that Moscow was unable to help. And he advised me to go to the manufacturing plant. And Klyushina rushed to the city of Gusev, in the Kaliningrad region. The director of Elektromash also just threw up his hands at the request. Then he thought and invited Valentina to speak on the factory radio in front of the workers and ask them to work beyond the norm. Two additional shifts were organized and the Saira searchlights went to Volgograd. On October 15, 1967, the monument-ensemble was inaugurated.

Construction continued for eight years and five months. The memorial remains standing for another forty years. He always looked decent. Even when everything in the country was collapsing and falling into disrepair, the grass on the mound was neatly trimmed. But only the people who work here know what this order costs. And how you have to extort money from authorities of all ranks in order to patch up and repair a huge unique farm.

Someone carelessly said that “Motherland” was so tilted that it might soon fall. This is nonsense. “Any structure of this type,” says the director of the memorial, retired general Vladimir Berlov, “can tilt. This is even provided for by the designers. Let's say the design of our monument is designed for a deviation of 272 millimeters. The figure, Berlov continues, is constantly examined for the formation of cracks and roughness, and its position is analyzed. And an analysis of concrete chips, carried out in a German laboratory, showed the excellent condition of the structure and the presence of the necessary safety margin. It is supported from the inside by 99 tension ropes. Believe me, says the director, this system will never allow the monument to tilt to a critical level.”

You can take a walk with Sergei Dolya inside the monument

And here is a walk with Artemy Lebedev

At the end of June 1941, perhaps the main graphic work of the Great Patriotic War, which was subsequently included in all history textbooks, was released - the poster by Irakli Toidze “The Motherland Calls”. By the artist’s own admission, the idea of ​​creating collective image of a mother calling her sons for help came to his mind completely by accident. Hearing the first message from the Sovinformburo about the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, Toidze’s wife ran into his workshop shouting “War!” Struck by the expression on her face, the artist ordered his wife to freeze and immediately began sketching the future masterpiece. Subsequently, the very concept of “Motherland” became almost the cornerstone of all Soviet propaganda, embodied in countless imitations and migrated to related areas visual arts, including monumental ones.

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

A huge hill rises, which is crowned by the main monument - the Motherland. This is a mound about 14 meters high, in which the remains of 34,505 soldiers - the defenders of Stalingrad - are buried. A serpentine path leads to the top of the hill to the foot of the Motherland, along which there are 35 granite tombstones of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. From the foot of the mound to its top, the serpentine consists of exactly 200 granite steps 15 cm high and 35 cm wide - according to the number of days of the Battle of Stalingrad.

The end point of the path is the monument “The Motherland is calling!”, the compositional center of the ensemble, the highest point of the mound. Its dimensions are enormous - the height of the figure is 52 meters, and the total height of the Motherland is 85 meters(along with the sword). For comparison, the height of the famous Statue of Liberty without its pedestal is only 45 meters. At the time of construction, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the country and in the world. Later, the Kiev Motherland appeared, 102 meters high (with a pedestal, without a pedestal its height is 62 meters). Today, the tallest statue in the world is the 120-meter Buddha statue, built in 1995 and located in Japan, in the city of Chuchura. The total weight of the Motherland is 8 thousand tons. In her right hand she holds a steel sword, which is 33 meters long and weighs 14 tons. Compared to the height of a person, the sculpture is increased 30 times.

The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the Motherland is only 25-30 centimeters. It was cast layer by layer using special formwork made from plaster materials. Inside, the rigidity of the frame is supported by a system of more than a hundred cables. The monument is not attached to the foundation and is held by gravity. Motherland stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. To enhance the effect of the monument being located at the very peak point of the mound, an artificial embankment 14 meters high was made.

In his work, Vuchetich addressed the theme of the sword three times - the sword is raised by the Motherland on the Mamayev Kurgan, calling for the expulsion of the conquerors; A victorious warrior cuts a fascist swastika with a sword in Berlin's Treptow Park; the worker forges the sword onto the plow in the composition “Let’s beat swords into ploughshares,” expressing the desire of people of good will to fight for disarmament in the name of the triumph of peace on the planet. This sculpture was donated by Vuchetech to the United Nations and was installed in front of the headquarters in New York, and a copy of it was given to the Volgograd gas equipment plant, in whose workshops the Motherland was born). This sword was born in Magnitogorsk (during the war, every third shell and every second tank was made of Magnitogorsk metal), where the monument to the Rear Front was erected.

Construction of the monument motherland was started in May 1959 and completed on October 15, 1967. During construction, many changes were made to the finished project. Few people know that initially on the top of the Mamaev Kurgan there was supposed to be a sculpture of the Motherland with a red banner and a kneeling soldier on a pedestal (according to some versions, the author of this project was Ernst Neizvestny). According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to the monument. But subsequently Vuchetich changed the basic idea of ​​the monument. After the Battle of Stalingrad, the country faced more than 2 years of bloody battles and Victory was still far away. Vuchetich left the Motherland alone, now she called on her sons to begin the victorious expulsion of the enemy. He also removed the pompous pedestal of the Motherland, which practically repeated the one on which his victorious Soldier stands in Treptower Park. Instead of monumental stairs (which, by the way, were already built), a serpentine path appeared near the Motherland. The Motherland itself has “grown” relative to its original size - its height has reached 36 meters. But this option was not final either. Soon after finishing work on the foundation of the main monument, Vuchetich (on Khrushchev’s instructions) increases the size of the Motherland to 52 meters. Because of this, the builders had to urgently “load” the foundation, for which 150 thousand tons of earth were placed in the embankment.

In the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow, at Vuchetich’s dacha, where his workshop was located and today the architect’s house-museum, you can see working sketches: a scaled-down model of the Motherland, as well as a life-size model of the statue’s head.

In a sharp, swift impulse, a woman stood up on the mound. With a sword in her hands, she calls on her sons to defend the Fatherland. Her right leg is slightly laid back, her torso and head are vigorously turned to the left. The face is stern and strong-willed. Knitted eyebrows, a wide open, screaming mouth, short hair blown by gusts of wind, strong arms, a long dress that fits the body, the ends of a scarf blown by gusts of wind - all this creates a feeling of strength, expression and an irresistible desire to move forward. Against the background of the sky, she is like a bird soaring in the sky.