Monument to the Heroes of the Revolution of 1905-1907, Moscow

Posted on 01/10/2024 by Michael

Monument to 1905-1907 Revolution

Monument to the Heroes of the Revolution of 1905-1907, Moscow

This monument commemorates the first attempt that the Russian workers had in making a revolution in Russia in the 20th century. Although it failed the lessons learnt from that attempt (together with the lessons learnt from the Paris Commune of 1871) meant that the successful Revolution of October (old style) 1917, under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, led by VI Lenin, was possible.

The monument

The story of the monument is basically in three parts.

Monument to 1905-1907 Revolution – 01

On the left there are two figures. A woman is standing and leaning against her legs is a dead or seriously injured male. The woman has both her arms fully extended above her head in the shape of a V (for victory?) and her fists are clenched. Even though the reaction is killing the people she remains defiant and angry, prepared to fight on, even if it means her death. Her face has the look of sadness for the injury/death of her Comrade but also one of determination. The reaction might win now but the future is of the workers.

Monument to 1905-1907 Revolution – 02

On the right there are two workers, a man and a woman, who are taking on one of the Tsarist cavalrymen. They are on the attack even against something as large and powerful as a military horse and its rider. The woman has taken hold of the horses bridle, causing it to rear up on its hind legs. This makes the seating of the soldier unsteady as he falls back and gets lower to the ground. This gives the opportunity for the man to drag the soldier from his saddle and take away his advantage. Once on the ground he will be vulnerable to attack from the rest of the (unseen) crowd. The look of panic on the face of the cavalryman is clear. He is losing this particular battle and it could mean he will also lose his life.

Monument to 1905-1907 Revolution – 02

In the centre is a symbolic grouping of Revolution. Here there are three men, one younger than the other two. The fact that there are three men and no image of a woman is a little bit unusual. I haven’t seen as many Soviet monuments of this sort as I have seen in Albania, but there, in such a circumstance, there is always a female representative to illustrate that this battle for revolution and a change in the life of the working class and peasantry is a fight of both men and women.

Two of the men are standing and one is kneeling. The oldest man in the middle is holding the pole of a huge (red) flag that flutters in the wind behind the group. The red flag is the workers’ flag and as long as that is flying the workers will never be defeated. On his left is a young man, standing with his rifle in his right hand, held high out in front of him – a sign of victory (but here not of 1905-1907 but of the victory to come in 1917). He is in the dress of a Russian peasant at the time – all such monuments stressing the unity of the workers and peasants against Tsarism. The kneeling revolutionary is on the viewers left of the group. He is dressed as an industrial worker and is holding his rifle in his right hand, with its butt resting on the ground. They are all looking ahead, into the future.

The inscription on the podium;

in Russian;

Революции 1905-1907 годов посвящается

in English;

Dedicated to the revolutionary years 1905-1907

Across the road, in Dekabrskaya Park, at the far end, there’s a fine statue of a seated Lenin.

Reading list;

VI Lenin – Pages from his life, Volume 2, the first Russian Revolution 1905-1907

VI Lenin – Lecture on the 1905 Revolution

Date of inauguration;

February 17, 1981, in honour of the 75 anniversary of the Moscow armed uprising in December 1905.

Artists:

OA Ikonnikov and VA Fedorov

Architects;

ME Konstantinov, AM Polovnikov and VM Fursov

Location;

In front of Ulitsa 1905 Goda Metro station, on Line 7, north west of the city centre.

GPS;

55.76362º N

37.56241º E

Kerepesi/Fiumei Uti Sirkert – Pantheon of the Working Class Movement

Posted on 30/09/2024 by Michael

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement

Kerepesi/Fiumei Uti Sirkert – Pantheon of the Working Class Movement

Labour Movement Pantheon

‘The Labour Movement Pantheon was built according to the plans of József Körner with the purpose of creating a central burial place for the Socialist Hungary. The mausoleum was inaugurated in 1959. The pantheon was originally designed for 365 urns, but only 75 urns had actually been placed there. In 1989 János Kádár was also buried nearby.’

From the information leaflet ‘ More than a graveyard’ produced by the government.

This is the only monument from Hungary’s Socialist period that is still in existence in its original location. I’m sure the only reason for that was its location in a cemetery. The same goes for the memorial obelisk in the Soviet plot (located a short distance to the left of the main entrance).

As far as I can understand there was quite a radical and thorough removal of any and all monuments that put the period from 1948-1989 in a positive light. This included wall plaques commemorating any Communist, even if they had died in the fight against German Nazism and their local Hungarian collaborators. I’ve encountered one or two bas reliefs on buildings in the centre of Budapest which seemed to have survived the purge – mainly because they could be written off as commemorating workers without any specific reference to Socialism and, therefore, not considered a political threat. There doesn’t seem to have been a lot of symbolism incorporated into Hungarian Socialist Realist art so easy to pass some monuments off as benign.

The Pantheon

The complex is reached by way of a wide path, lined by a mixture of bushes, flower beds and individual grave plots. This path then widens out to a small rectangular platform where any ceremony would talk place for whoever was going to be placed in the mausoleum.

Then, on either side, reached by a flight of eight steps, three large, rectangular pylons. On one side, that facing away from the mausoleum, there are larger than life-size tableau representing the struggle of Hungarian workers and peasants against oppression by the State and exploitation of capitalism. On the other side are plaques with names from Hungary’s revolutionary past – although these are not graves or niches as the individuals are all buried elsewhere.

In the centre, right in front of the mausoleum is a statue of three people.

I’m sure it’s a history written chronologically but not sure where it actually starts as the two opposing tableau seem to represent a similar stage of the struggle.

So starting with those closest to the building and taken from the perspective of the ceremonial square.

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 02

On the right hand side there are two soldiers, with late 19th century rifles, bayonets fixed. They are also wearing swords which are in their scabbard. The are threatening a man, who is standing, and a woman (kneeling) as she has her right arm around her little daughter. Although the man is not physically trying to defend himself his stance is one of defiance to authority. The way the civilians are dressed would seem to indicate they are peasants, farmers, and the tree also emphasises the encounter taking place in the country. There’s also the symbolism of the willow tree which is one of reliance and endurance – and in this scenario resistance. That resistance is stressed by the raised fist, against the soldiers, of the mother and even the little girl.

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 05

On the left side the pylon depicts a violent encounter between the people and the military but this time in an urban environment. An armed lackey of the state is on horseback (the horse rearing up on its hind legs) and he is either threatening or attempting to strike a demonstrator with his drawn sword. This is not the first time he has used his sword as lying prone on the ground is another male demonstrator, either wounded or dead. The other person in the tableau is a standing woman who has a piece of a cobble in her hand ready to throw at the rider. The demonstrators have prepared for violence as we see that the ground is broken up at their feet so ammunition, in lieu of firearms, is ready to hand.

But at the same time notice how her male companion has his hand at her waist, pushing her back, protecting her, from the possible onslaught that is coming in the shape of the raised sword. This sculpture was produced in 1959 and this action could be interpreted as the male trying to be the protector of the weaker female, as if she is not someone who can look after herself. Perhaps it wil be seen different now. In this situation you have that fine dividing line of protecting a Comrade, any Comrade, and not undermining female revolutionaries.

This scene is very reminiscent of another monument to workers’ struggle which I’ve seen recently and that is the monumental sculpture to the 1905-1907 Revolution outside the Ulitsa 1905 Goda Metro station in Moscow. In that sculpture an armed puppet of the State has already done his worse but others in the demonstration are continuing to fight him with their bare hands or with anything that comes to hand, even trying to pull him off his horse.

So in these two pylons, where I think the chronology could be interchangeable, show the early days of the struggle, when the oppressed and exploited are fighting but not in an organised manner and always at a disadvantage as the State has a monopoly on organisation and weapons. The people have the will and the courage but they still lack what they need to overcome the enemy and win.

And one of the things the workers and peasants need if they are to achieve victory is an ideology and the theory of Revolution.

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 06

That, I believe, is what is being presented in the next pylon on the left. Here we have four people, three men and a young woman. They are in the countryside (as indicated by the trees in the background) but they are not people of the countryside. Both the young man and woman on the right have rucksacks on their backs and the man has a long stick to indicate that they have walked from the city/town to the countryside to avoid the spies that are everywhere in a modern urban environment (then as now). Those two young people, as well as the older man in the middle, are all looking in the direction of the standing, slightly more mature male than the youngsters, as if he is in the process of making a presentation, making an argument. The young woman has her right hand on the open pages of a book and the older man, who is sitting down, also has an open book on his lap.

Who might be actually speaking at this moment is open to question. The standing young man on the right is making a sweeping gesture with his left hand and the man sitting down has his left arm raised as if he is wanting to say something. The woman is not contributing at this moment but is intently listening to what is being said. So I think this depicts a study group that’s taking place as such groups are illegal and so they have to leave the city to discuss and learn the theory of Revolution. Also note the satchel on the ground at the feet of the standing man on the left. Could this have contained the illegal books of Marxism he has brought to distribute to his ‘students’?

‘Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.’

Karl Marx, Thesis on Feuerbach, see in the Appendix of Engels’s book ‘Ludwig Feuerbach And the Outcome of Classical German Philosophy’, pp73-75.

But it’s all very well knowing what to do and why. Next comes action, putting all that theory into practice.

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 03

And that’s what we see in the next pylon, the second one from the mausoleum, on the right. Here, again, we have four individuals, three men and a women, who are turning that theory into practice. They are all armed and in the process of fighting the forces of reaction. However, it’s slightly strange as the trees in the background would seem to indicate that they are still in the countryside but they are dressed as proletarians and would be more at home involved in an urban revolution, insurrection, than a protracted struggle in the countryside.

It’s even stranger when you look at the weapons they are using as these are weapons from the early 1940s, when the Soviet Red Army (with the assistance of local Communist Partisans) liberated Budapest from the German Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators. The man standing on the right is about to throw a stick grenade and in front of him is another man, kneeling, aiming and firing a rifle (I don’t know what type). Now these weapons were available from the 1914-1919 war onwards but what starts to date the image is the weapon that the woman is holding, although not yet pointing at the enemy.

(I have made a point of emphasising that in Albanian lapidars if a woman is depicted in an image, be it a statue, bas relief or mosaic often the men aren’t armed but the women are, so it’s good to see in Hungary that there was also the idea that women are fighters and not just passive, non-combatants who support in a more passive manner. Unfortunately many women seem to have forgotten that once you are armed you should never give up your weapons. If you do things will go backwards.)

Her weapon looks very much like the PPSh-41 submachine gun, an almost standard weapon for the Red Army and Partisans in the Great Patriotic War. You can see images of these in the hands of Red Army soldiers on the semi-circular bas reliefs on either side of the Monument to the Soviet Red Army in Liberty Square in the centre of Budapest.

But going back to the bas relief on the pylon, the last figure looks like an officer or Commissar. As in most 20th century armies the officers were distinguished by the fact they carried a revolver – but he also carries a submachine gun. It was almost certainly a mistake that this distinction between ranks became more evident in the Red Army after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. (See my comment about only officers being commemorated on the Monument to the Soviet Red Army.)

The final two pylons are difficult to separate when it comes to chronology.

They both seem to depict the victory of Socialism. The war is over and the battle has been won.

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 07

On the left we have very well dressed men (3) and a women but they are not in a normal military uniform. There seems to be some sort of ceremony going on here – hence the formality of civilian dress – revolving around the raising of the flag. If we start from the right men one and three seem to be on a sort of guard duty. Man number two is holding a flag pole with his left hand and is straitening out the flag itself with his right so in this image the flag (obviously the Red Flag) plays the part of the background to tableau. The woman standing on the left is holding the top of the pole with her left hand and the ribbons to the ferule fall over her hand. Surmounting the pole is a star.

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 04

The final pylon shows the construction of Socialism. We have quite a bucolic scene. On the right there is a man digging the soil (I like the way the soil been raised is depicted here) and at the same time he is looking lovingly into the eyes of a young woman who is picking apples from a tree of abundance and collecting them in her apron. On the left we have a family of three. The mother, kneeling, with her arms around her daughter who has in her hands a book, an emphasis of education under all Socialist regimes – and also a reference back to one of the other pylons about a study session. They get support from the hand placed on the woman’s shoulder/back by her ‘husband’ dressed as an industrial worker.

Sculptural group;

Pantheon of the Working Class Movement – 01

This group of three, two men and a woman, are on the same level as the pylons but right in the centre of the mausoleum wall. The man in the centre, who looks the more positive by looking far into the future, is supporting another man who is either tired or injured, he can barely stand without this support. The woman on the right has her left arm raised in front of her face and I can’t work out its meaning. I suppose it could have the meaning of sadness, a mock hiding of the eyes to the scene of death but I’m not sure. At the same time she is gripping the left hand of the central male. I find this a somewhat strange pose to be found in as cemetery. Compare this with the group of three in Pogradec Martyrs’ Cemetery or the treating of a wounded Comrade in the sculpture in Përmet cemetery.

Behind the group, in large black metal lettering;

in Hungarian;

‘A kommunizmusért, a népért éltek’

which translates into English as;

‘They lived for Communism, for the people’

The sculptor was Olcsai-Kiss Zolt á n (1895-1981). His name appears on two of the tableau, the two that are furthest from the mausoleum on the left hand side as you look at it.

Condition;

The pylons or the sculpture haven’t been damaged but there are signs of neglect. The environment for the three pylons on the right must be more humid and there is mould growth, especially the pylon in the middle, which is blackening the bas relief. The fact that the pylons on the left get more sun throughout the year is probably the reason they are free of this mould growth. And the covers that have been installed on top of all the pylons (for reasons I don’t understand) also allow for water to drip down and cause damage.

But the clearest sign of neglect is the small plant that is growing out of the wall, just above the head of the horse, in the pylon that’s closest to the mausoleum on the left. The fact that no one has done anything to cut this plant back speaks volumes.

The sculptural group looks like it could do with a good clean but I have been unable to find an image of what it was like at its inauguration in order to compare with what’s it’s like now.

Soviet plot;

Soviet War Memorial

Also worth a visit if you are in the cemetery is the Soviet Plot, Number 1, which can be found if you turn left and follow the track that runs parallel with the boundary wall of cemetery. In the centre there’s an obelisk with the coast of arms of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on two faces surmounted by a three dimensional star. This plot holds the remains of those who fought in the liberation of Budapest in 1944-45 as well as those who died during the counter-revolution of 1956.

This area is very well cared for and I have no doubt this is all paid for by the Russian state and that the assurance that it will not be vandalised is part of the same agreement that covers the Monument to the Soviet Red Army in the centre of town.

Location;

Fiumei ut, which is close to Keleti mainline railway station.

GPS;

47.49698º N

19.08418º E

How to get there by public transport;

It’s only a few minutes walk from the Keleti railway station, which can be reached by Metro line 4. Or from the tram line that runs parallel with the river in Pest you can catch the Number 23 tram which takes you right past the main entrance on Fiumei ut.

Szent László tér, Városligeti fasor, Gizella út and Szobránc u. murals

Posted on 29/09/2024 by Michael

Hungarian Socialist murals

Szent László tér, Városligeti fasor, Gizella út and Szobránc u. murals

Some of the remaining murals which decorate the side of blocks of flats and official buildings created during Hungary’s Socialist period.

The five murals in Szent László tér

Szent László tér – 01

The largest is on the side wall of a block of flats which is located in Klapka György u., one of the streets off Szent László tér. It fills most of the wall and tells the story of a family (mother, father, son and 2 daughters) working in the countryside. On the right the mother holds her son high above her head with both her hands as he is picking fruit from a tree. The youngest of the daughters appears to be playing with a ball just beside her mother (being too young to work). On the left the father and elder daughter have stopped working (planting another fruit tree and they both have their hands on a shovel) and are watching as the boy plucks the fruit. Surrounding the group are strokes of different lengths and thicknesses, possibly representing grass, trees and other plants in the countryside.

The image is very simple and stylised. If you saw the component parts of the image before seeing the whole you would have no idea what they represent. I have been unable to find out the exact process used to produce this art work but presumably more than one layer of concrete was applied to the wall, a darker layer being then covered with a thin screen of a lighter version added once dry. The design appears when the upper layer is removed, the depth of which will determine how dark the image will appear. I’m assuming this is the process used in all the murals in this estate as all the other four use more than one colour (as well as the two murals near the Puskás Arena).

The base on which the group stand is a thick, horizontal line that extends the full width of the wall and there are another four such lines, shorter in length, that are on either side of the group. It appears that something had, in the past, been engraved on these lines so it’s possible this image was part of some sort of campaign and included a political slogan.

People who might be familiar with other posts on this blog relating to art works created in the Socialist period of other countries will be aware that I don’t find this ‘propaganda’ aspect of Socialist Realist art a problem. After all, the advertising we are surrounded with in capitalist countries all have a message, mostly aimed at parting people from their money. Capitalism suggests it never uses ‘propaganda’ and that this is something only the populace of their enemies have to endure. However, this distinction is forgotten in times of conflict – take, for example, the posters produced in Britain in both the ‘World’ wars of the 20th century and even the ‘fear’ campaign about AIDS in the late 1970s.

The only information I have about this mural, and presumably the other four in this small estate, was that it was created in 1958 when the buildings were constructed. However, if you look underneath the ball and just to the left you will see the name ‘Kadar’. I have tried to find out more but the only Hungarian artist with that name I have come across died in 1956, before this mural was created.

Two of the other murals can be found on the opposite side of this block of flats.

Szent László tér – 02

The first one, on a wall that breaks up the façade looking into the square, is much smaller and much less ‘complicated’. It depicts three, young peasant women during harvest time. They are are carrying small baskets of a small fruit, either on their heads, in their arms or – the young woman in the centre – in her apron. I think this could be the harvesting of olives as the leaves seem be the right sort for an olive tree.

Szent László tér – 03

The third is on the very end of this same block of flats, next to a single story house. This is of two construction workers, a bricklayer – lower down and to the left – and what I think must be a scaffolder, who is in the process of erecting a wooden scaffold. This particular mural only takes up a small part of the wall, no more than a third, so what was the rationale with the installation of these murals is a bit of a mystery.

Szent László tér – 04

The fourth mural is on a different building completely. This is on the side of another block of flats which butts on to Türr István utca, another street that leads off the square, parallel to Klapka György u. When the trees are in leaf this is an easy mural to miss but probably easier to find in the winter. This one depicts a group of musicians and singers. You’ll be able to make out a lute (I think) and a large double bass as well as singers reading from sheet music.

Szent László tér – 05

The final mural in this grouping is on, yet again, another apartment block. This is high up on an end wall on Kiss Ernő u. – a street at 90º to the above mentioned streets and at the other side of the square. This is of a group of three older women who appear to be in the act of washing clothes.

Considering their age (and the likelihood that little attention has been paid to their upkeep since the early 1990s) all these five murals are a very good condition.

You know you are in the right square when you see the large statue of the turtle.

Location;

All five of these murals are in the vicinity of Szent László tér in Ujpest (that’s important as there’s another square of the same name closer to the centre of town which is very much a bus terminal).

GPS;

47.568688º N

19.095536º E

How to get there by public transport;

Get to Keleti railway station at the end of Metro line 4. From there you can either take the 30, 30A or 20E and get off a few minutes from the square. This is where a mobile phone comes into its own. Or you can go to Ujpest-központ, the last station north on Metro line 3 and from there take the short bus journey to Szent László tér on the number 220 bus.

The mural at 50 Városligeti fasor

Városligeti fasor

This impressive mural is on the façade facing Városligeti fasor on a wall of what used to be the headquarters of the Nation Union of Hungarian Builders – MÉMOSZ. After the collapse of Socialism construction workers lost their organisation and hence had no need for such a large building and it was sold under a scheme of privatisation. The mural depicts a group of construction workers, both men and women, involved in the process of building a wall and laying a concrete floor. This is a busy scene with workers walking in both directions, other workers busy at their task and things happening on more than one level. There are labourers, bricklayers, carpenters and at the far left it looks like an architect talking to the foreman as one of them has a architects plan in his hands.

It uses the technique of cutting deep into the concrete façade and that gives the image a 3D effect. It’s also in a very good condition and looks like it must have had some maintenance work in the recent past.

Just behind the back foot of the second of the two women carrying a load of bricks up a slope you can see the name ‘Tari’ and the date 1949. This is the signature of the sculptor Istvan Tar (1910-1971).

Location;

50 Városligeti fasor

GPS;

47.51128º N

19.08006º E

How to get there by public transport;

Get to Keleti railway station at the end of Metro line 4. From there you can either take the 30, 30A and get off the stop for the Museum of Ethnology (the very modern building with an impressive and unique roof garden/observation platform). The mural is on the opposite side of the road to the museum, almost directly across from the lowest point of the roof garden.

The murals at Gizella út and Szobránc u.

There are two separate addresses for these murals but they are actually at either end of the same building – it just unites the two streets.

Gizella út

The first one is next to Gizella út 17 and, at least for me, is a little difficult to understand. At the top left of the wall there’s what looks like a representation of the sun and there’s a flock of long-necked, long-legged birds (cranes, storks?) flying in front of it.

Next, lower down and more over to the right is a group of four people (although it’s difficult to make that out with the naked eye as bits of concrete that have fallen away obscure the original intention of the artist). These characters appear to be dressed in Oriental clothing and are in some sort of procession with the person at the rear with her right hand in the air. I say her as all the characters in this mural give me the impression of being female. What’s strange about this group is that they are not facing in the same direction. If we take the direction of movement from right to left only two are facing that way. One is facing backwards and the fourth is facing the viewer.

Below them, now back to the left hand side of the wall, are a couple of women who are looking up at the group of four, and pointing to them with both hands. Why? I haven’t a clue.

If my theory (stated in the description of the first mural on this page) that the image is made up of various layers of coloured concrete to be able to provide colour to the image then that layering will produce weak points – and especially in an environment where the temperatures can often drop below zero in winter months and where there’s a lot of rain that can mean bits drop off over time. Of the murals described on this page this is the one that has suffered the most (almost certainly) environmental damage.

This mural is the work of Andrea Michnay and was completed in 1963.

Szobránc u.

The other mural attached to this building (which, I understand, was built as accommodation for workers of the Ministry of the Interior) is located at Szobránc u. 18.

It depicts groups of families or friends in a park, some of them flying kites, but it’s a little confusing.

In the bottom centre there’s a very young girl with what looks like a hula-hoop but I’m not too sure why her mother has an olive branch held high above her head. Over to the left, at the bottom, are a couple of young women playing with rings, so that may be what the very young girl is holding on to, not a hula-hoop.

The couple at the bottom right are both holding the strings of a kite, the woman with a spindle and the man with what looks like a hand grips in his left hand but his right hand is seeming to stretch out to the man above, who is holding a large sheet of paper, with some geometric designs on it. Is this a plan for a park, is he an architect, as he doesn’t seem to be there for play?

Above him, still on the right of the image, is a woman holding a large box kite with all kinds of strings hanging from it. Could she be the one who’s holding the kite the couple at the bottom are in the process of trying to launch?

At the very top is a man standing holding both a kite and its strings. Behind him are two women but its difficult to work out what they are doing.

One of the problems of trying to interpret these murals is that here, as with the mural of the musicians in Ujpest, the trees get in the way and these sort of murals are meant to be seen face on. If you have to look at them from the side you get a distorted view of events.

This mural is the work of István Petrilla and was also completed in 1963.