Treptower Park Soviet War Memorial

I have held off making a trip to Treptower Park, as it was quite out of the way. With some spare time on the 2nd last day before I leave Berlin, and after seeing some pictures in Google maps, I popped by and spent over an hour here.

It's a huge park and with one side located next to the Spree River, it's quite a pleasant walk. 

The biggest reason why I wanted to visit was for the Soviet War Memorial - cemetery for more than 7,000 Soviet Soldiers Soviet Army memorial commemorating the defeat of National Socialism. 

In April and May of 1945 towards the end of WWII, countless people including more than 22,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in the fight to take Berlin.

In 1946, the Soviet military administration had the cemeteries for Soviet soldiers in Berlin redesigned. 

The Treptower Park and Schönholz memorials were built, and on May 8, 1949, the largest Soviet military memorial outside the Soviet Union 8was dedicated in Treptow. 

The visitor is taken from mourning and remembrance to honouring the victors as heroes and liberators. The two avenues at the entrance to the grounds lead first to the statue of a grieving "Mother Homeland".

From there, a promenade lined with weeping birches takes visitors pass two kneeling soldiers and pylons in the form of stylized lower flags to the cemetery section below. 

The reliefs that decorate the 16 sarcophagi on both sides of the graves illustrate scenes from the "Great Patriotic War". Quotes from Stalin, commander-in-chief of the Soviet Armed Forces, complement the scenes. This inscriptions were supposed to underscore the importance of the Communist Party and the Red Army under his leadership. 

The ensemble is dominated by the main monument on the opposite end: a hill with a mausoleum supporting a bronze statue of a Soviet soldier holding a lowered sword over a shattered swastika and cradling a rescued child in his arm is a world-famous symbol of the role played by the Soviet Union in destroying National Socialism. 

There's also a locked gate at the top of those steps with the actual memorial in it. A great view of the entire park can also be seen from the top of those stairs. 

It was very grand memorial in an extremely serene setting and worth a visit.