The Ernst Thälmann Monument on Greifswalder Strasse in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin is a colossal statue in honour of KPD leader Ernst Thälmann. It was created by the Soviet sculptor Lew Kerbel. It was unveiled on 15 April 1986 in the Ernst Thälmann Park, which is now also a listed monument.
On the following day, the XI Party Congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) began in Berlin on the hundredth anniversary of Thälmann's birth.
The 14 metre high and 15 metre wide bronze Ernst Thälmann monument stands on a base made of Ukrainian granite. It weighs 50 tonnes and was made from 272 individual parts. The main part of the monument is occupied by a bust of Thälmann. Wearing the blouse of the Red Front Fighters' League, he raises his right fist in salute. A stylised workers' flag flies behind him. The pedestal bears the inscription "Ernst Thälmann" in capital letters at the front and "Red Front" at the sides. The memorial had two bronze steles on granite plinths on the sides of the forecourt, which the Prenzlauer Berg borough council had removed on 11 July 1990. Since 2012, they have been part of the permanent exhibition Unveiled. Berlin and its monuments in the Spandau Citadel.
"For me, photography feels like really capturing the moment - like a kind of alchemy where time is physically captured."
Silva Wischeropp was born in the Hanseatic city of Wismar in the former GDR. Today she lives and works in Berlin. As a passionate travel..
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