Родина-мать зовёт! – The Motherland Calls!

Родина-мать зовёт! – The Motherland Calls!
21 September 2021

Situated on the Mamayev Kurganhill (Мамаев курган) in Volgograd (former Stalingrad) in Southern Russia, stands a magnificent statue which commemorates the sufferings, sacrifice, and heroism of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This monument is the representation of a call to take up arms against the German National Socialist army, a call which later on echoed as a shout of victory against fascism.

Родина-мать зовёт! – The Motherland Calls!

As you probably know, Volgograd’s soil was scene to one of the most severe battles in history, which concluded in 1943 with more than 700’000 fatalities. Particularly this Soviet victory represented a turning point in WWII. Therefore, the monument “Rodina Mat’ Zovyot!” (Родинамать зовёт!), which translates to The Motherland Calls, not only impresses with its physical greatness, but also by its ideological meaning, embodying a transcendent event in human history.

Built in 1967 by sculptor and artist Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural designer and construction engineer Nikolai Nikitin, it was the world’s tallest statue from 1967 – 1989, and today it takes the ninth position worldwide. With its 85 meters of height and nearly 8’000 tons of weight, it’s not only the highest female statue (without pedestal) in the world, but also the highest statue in Europe as well.

What many don’t know is that this monument is in sync with two others, which, all together, constitute a triad telling the very same story in different stages:

– Located in the city of Magnitogorsk lies the first monument of this triad. It’s the “Tyl Frontu Memorial” (Памятник «Тыл — фронту»), which translates to the Rear-front Memorial. This city played an important role in the manufacture of weapons for the Soviet army during WWII.

Памятник Тыл – фронту – Tyl Frontu Memorial

– The second statue is the “Motherland” itself raising that same sword found in Magnitogorsk, but in Volgograd, where, as we saw earlier, the Soviet Army managed to stop the Wehrmacht’s advance and began its march towards Berlin.

– The third and last monument is the Warrior Liberator (Воин-освободитель), located in the German capital. This monument shows a Soviet combatant with the sword in one hand and a young girl in the other, symbolizing the end of war and, simultaneously, the salvation of future generations.

Во́ин-освободи́тель – Warrior Liberator

These three monuments, therefore, symbolize the sword that was forged in Magnitogorsk, later raised by the Motherland in today’s Volgograd and finally rested on the ground after the victory in Berlin.
Undoubtedly, humans are specialists when it comes to encapsulating immeasurable meaning in objects, and “Rodina Mat’ Zovyot!” is a definite evidence thereof.

***

If you want to know more about other legendary monuments in Russia, this article might be of special interest to you!

Posted by Fabio Reyes

Здравствуй! My name is Fabio and I study Applied Linguistics at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. I am currently interning and studying Russian at Liden & Denz St. Petersburg, which is why I will be keeping you up to date with blogs related to Russia for the next 12 weeks. Stay tuned ?!

2 responses to “Родина-мать зовёт! – The Motherland Calls!”

  1. Peter says:

    Nice post very helping because there are not many articles about it. Keep it !

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related posts
Buying a flat requires a real estate vocabulary that must be learned in order to avoid making the wrong decision. In this sector there are ...
Read more
For this week's recipe I thought I would share what I found to be a weird Russian dish that I came to love. This dish is Винегрет (Vinegret), a ...
Read more
Learning how to cook a country’s cuisine is the best thing you can do to truly appreciate the richness of a new culture. And here in Russia, ...
Read more
The Russian cuisine may not have the best reputation when compared to other cuisines, like Italian cooking. But what is a stay abroad without ...
Read more
Before visiting Russia, I had never tried Georgian cuisine, and barely even heard of it. However, since arriving in St Petersburg, I have seen ...
Read more
Christmas is a heart-warming time of year. It is a time when families gather together in order to joyfully celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ ...
Read more
Looking for easy recipes to improve your Russian experience? Or, you've just arrived in Moscow and want to learn a few easy recipes to try your ...
Read more
COVID-19 has changed practically every aspect of our lives, language included. Below you will find a list of Russian COVID-19 vocabulary: an ...
Read more
Although Russia’s main exports have for a long time been oil, gas and other natural resources, the iconic chocolate brand Alyonka (Алёнка) stands ...
Read more
Have you heard about Astrid Lindgren? I bet you have. She is one of the most famous Swedish writers of all time. Her books are loved by all ...
Read more
It may seem that the tourist trail in St Petersburg is all about the city's imperial past: the palaces of Peter the Great and Catherine the ...
Read more
One of the most distinctive and recognizable items produced in Russia is the Matryoshka doll (матрёшка). A Matryoshka is a set of wooden dolls of ...
Read more
Авось is a widely used Russian saying which expresses a very specific concept. Although you may find that it is often translated as ‘perhaps’ ...
Read more
Russian citizen takes his cat for an adventure Just recently, a Russian citizen decided to climb the highest mountain on European territory: ...
Read more
As we humans love music, it is to be expected that the audiovisual material we consume the most is music videos. Therefore, hits such as ...
Read more
Which would be the perfect plan for a Halloween chilly evening? Watching Russian horror films! Although Halloween’s origins are not linked to ...
Read more
Ivan Bunin in 1933 “for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing”. It was the ...
Read more
Russia is home to a rich tapestry of languages and cultures. While the predominant language spoken throughout the country is Russian, numerous ...
Read more