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Treptow Memorial: Remembering or Exploiting? Discussion round!
On October 25th, 2025, a guided tour on history and culture of remembrance will take place at the Soviet Memorial in Berlin.
Treptow Memorial: Remembering or Exploiting? Discussion round!
A significant event will take place on October 25, 2025 Soviet memorial in Treptower Park took place in Berlin. A tour of the cemetery grounds will be organized between 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in cooperation with Memorial Germany is carried out. This tour addresses the relationship between triumphal staging and commemoration of the dead in a variety of ways.
The event is part of the series “From History to the Present – Places of Historical and Political Education Work in Treptow-Köpenick”, which also enables an interactive exchange about one’s own interpretations and perspectives. The topic covers important aspects such as the phases of private and state remembrance in the Soviet and post-Soviet space and sheds light on the political framework at the time the memorial was created.
The Soviet Memorial in Treptower Park
The Soviet Memorial, a landmark of Berlin, was completed in May 1949 on the instructions of the Soviet military administration. It honors the Red Army soldiers who died in World War II, over 7,000 of whom are buried at this location. The complex includes an impressive colossal statue measuring 30 meters high, including the base and mound, and is one of the central Soviet memorials in Berlin, alongside others in Schönholzer Heide, Tiergarten and Bucher Schlosspark.
The design of the monument emerged from a competition in which 33 designs were submitted. Architect Yakov B. Belopolsky, sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and painter Alexander A. Gorpenko were responsible for the execution. The important sculpture “The Liberator” by Vuchetitsch is 12 meters high and weighs 70 tons. Flame bowls made in 1948 also decorate the site.
Culture of remembrance and days of remembrance
The memorial has played a central role in mass events and state rituals over the decades and was the site of a notable mass demonstration against neo-Nazis in January 1990. The annual memorial rally on May 9th also attracts large crowds, not least to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in 2015, at which 10,000 people took part.
Nowadays, the place is increasingly being exploited in the context of the war against Ukraine. This raises questions about the relevance of the culture of remembrance, which should be not only emotional but also rational and fact-based. Dealing with history and the challenges of the present, such as the integration of refugees and dealing with group-related misanthropy, remain topics of great social importance.
For the upcoming event on October 25, 2025 Please note that people with right-wing extremist connections may be refused entry or excluded. This move is part of a larger effort to preserve the site as a place of education and respectful remembrance, preserving the lessons of history for today's society.