Moscow: Full of signs of forgotten times

Moscow is a mystery for every foreigner. But Russias capital is a very good place to enjoy something special. We traveled Moscow for a few days and explored the great unknown among the world cities. 

A foreign country not only with a foreign language, but also with a foreign script. The largest in the world, repeatedly attacked but never defeated. Proud and stubborn to this day, indomitable even if all the other large western states continue to criticize. Russia is different, as is its capital Moscow. You must have seen that. Read part 1 of the story here, part 2 is here.

On Victory Day, the signs on the Red Square immediately catches the eye. In addition to depictions of old warriors from the great days of the tsars, the central square of the Russian capital is also adorned with a whole host of signs from the communist era.  Thirty years after the end of the Soviet Union, the largest country in the Communist world empire, the Russian leadership has come up with new idols, yes, of course. Five years ago, for example, a monument to Grand Prince Vladimir, who ruled in the Middle Ages, was created. 

A saint, a founder of the state and a warrior, President Vladimir Putin called his namesake, the Grand Prince of Kiev. Vladimir, he said, was a "collector and defender of Russian soil" and one of the most important rulers in the history of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, where Russia and Ukraine see the roots of their peoples, statehood and Christian faith.

The sword makes the difference

A large monument to Vladimir was erected in Kiev over 150 years ago, when Ukraine was still part of the Russian Empire. The two monuments look similar. Vladimir is depicted as a bearded man in princely clothing, leaning on a large cross with his right hand. But there is also a difference. While in Kiev Vladimir's head is uncovered and he holds his cap in his left hand, in Moscow he wears the ruler's cap on his head and holds a large sword in his left hand.  

Cross and sword and the black-orange cockade, they are the new signs of the new era that has dawned in Russia. But they do not suit everyone. Russians are still attached enough to the Soviet Union to tolerate what remains of it in the way of red stars, busts of Lenin, monuments to Marx and commemorative plaques for all manner of revolutionary heroes.

The Grand Prince Vladimir, which was originally intended to be truly gigantic but is now only 16 meters high, stands on Borovitsky Hill within sight of the Kremlin. But look: On a house wall opposite, a modern graffiti image recalls more recent heroic deeds: A Soviet soldier carries a child protectively in his arms.

Iconic images from the past

It is an iconic image from the great age of totalitarianism, emphasizing the historical and political stability of emotions once learned.  Images of revolutionaries and heroes of the Soviet era have still a strong effect on the unconscious and thus on the emotions of Russians. Even if the heroes from former days committed crimes, most people do not want to completely separate themselves from them - Russia does not know anything like the cancel culture that is common in the West.

Rather, what is too ambiguous to be worshipped without limits as in the past is overwritten. Lenin lies in his mausoleum, the KGB continues to sit in its old headquarters, it's just called something else. The subway station nearby has till hold her old and cruel name: Lubljanka. Unweit davon finden sich denkmale von Puschkin, dem kommunistischen Dichter Gorki und Marx.

The state symbolism of the old days, when Russia was still one of only two world powers, has survived the transformation phase of the post-communist countries because its functions in the multi-ethnic state of the Soviet Union were absolute: the Soviet star, the red flag, Lenin and Stalin, they were the representation of the state to the outside world and they created identity formation on the inside. In terms of foreign policy, the reformed or newly developed state symbolism symbolized the sovereignty of the states concerned; in terms of domestic policy, it served to integrate the citizens under virtual signs.

Lenin is still king

The king of the Soviet Union, however, is still Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov show, fighting name: Lenin. Standing and sitting, made of bronze or natural stone, in front of a university or a cemetery - in Moscow one constantly encounters statues and busts depicting the father of the Great October Socialist Revolution. From the larger-than-life statue in the Moscow Sculpture Park to the small commemorative plaque, Lenin is everywhere.

Stalin, his bloodthirsty successor, is rarer, but his tomb on the Kremlin wall has again been a pilgrimage site for Russian communists for years. Since the removal of Stalin's embalmed body from the Lenin-Stalin Mausoleum in 1961, the ruler, who died in 1953, has rested in the necropolis on the Kremlin wall. There, among others, are the funerary monuments of CP General Secretaries Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko, who died between 1982 and 1985. A gray bust commemorates the once feared Georgian, whose real name was Iosif Dzhugashvili. 

The killers as dolls

In the Moscow souvenir stores, for example on the Old Arbat or at the Military Museum, on the other hand, Stalin is the absolute star. Here you can find not only cheap copies of Fabergé eggs, but also busts of Stalin, Lenin and President Putin. Next to them are the famous Russian matryoshka dolls, painted as Stalin, but also as Lenin, Putin, John Lennon and Donald trump. Russian humor or pure capitalist profiteering? Who knows.

(will be continued)

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