Ernst Thälmann Monument in Prenzlauer Berg by Silva Wischeropp

About "Ernst Thälmann Monument in Prenzlauer Berg"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

The Ernst Thälmann Monument on Greifswalder Straße in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district 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. The following day, on Thälmann's centenary, the XI Party Congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) began in Berlin.
The 14-metre high and 15-metre wide bronze Ernst Thälmann Monument stands on a base of Ukrainian granite. It weighs 50 tonnes and was made of 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" on the sides. Two bronze steles on granite pedestals belonged to the monument on the sides of the forecourt, which the council of the Prenzlauer Berg district had removed on 11 July 1990. Since 2012, they have been in the permanent exhibition Unveiled. Berlin and its monuments in the Spandau Citadel. They bear the following inscriptions in capital letters:

"In shaping socialism in the German Democratic Republic, we set a worthy monument to Ernst Thälmann / the bold fighter for freedom / humanity and social progress of our people /. Erich Honecker"
"My life and work knew and knows only one thing: to use my spirit and my will / my experience and my energy / indeed my whole / personality for the best of the German future for the victorious socialist struggle for freedom in the new springtime of the German nation! Ernst Thälmann"