Posted on 08/05/2005 2:24:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A mammoth statue of Vladimir Lenin is to be rescued from its woodland resting place and reinstated in Berlin.
The 62ft monument once loomed over Lenin Square, now United Nations Square, in East Berlin but was dragged off its pedestal under tight police guard 14 years ago.
It was then cut into 125 pieces and buried in woods on the edge of the city.
But so-called "ostalgie" hunters, those wistful for the communist era, recently discovered its secret grave and have been chiselling bits from its red granite surface as souvenirs. Attempts to protect the statue by covering it in a layer of sand only attracted more attention from souvenir-hunters. Left-wing city councillors in Berlin have now intervened to save what they call an "important part of the city's cultural heritage".
"This former memorial should not end up as a wreck on a rubbish dump," said Ingeborg Junge-Reyer, a Social Democrat senator, who rejected plans for the statue to be ground down and used as building material.
"That would not be an appropriate way to deal with it," Mrs Junge-Reyer said.
The cult status of the Social Realist-style Lenin, whose head alone weighs more than three and a half tons, only intensified after it was shown being hauled away by helicopter in the 2003 hit film Goodbye Lenin!
The film tells the tragi-comic story of a boy's attempts to persuade his mother, who was in a coma when the Berlin Wall fell, that the old regime of which she is a staunch supporter is alive and well.
Visitors to Berlin are often disappointed to find very few remnants of the communist era, unlike other cities formerly under the Soviet yoke such as Budapest which has a park to house statues from the period.
Even traces of the Berlin Wall are hard to find. So the decision to resurrect the statue of the founder of the Soviet Union has been welcomed by tourist chiefs.
"It is bound to become an instant tourist attraction," said Gerhard Bucholz, from Berlin Tourism Marketing Ltd.
Those who have campaigned in vain for segments of the Berlin Wall to remain in the city centre as a reminder of the barrier that once divided the city are appalled.
"It's totally disgusting to consider bringing back this dinosaur which belongs on the rubbish dump of history," said Alexandra Hildebrandt, the curator of a museum dedicated to the Berlin Wall and its victims.
"It's hypocritical and amounts to a glorification of the communist era."
But Reinhold Lakomy, a songwriter from the old German Democratic Republic, said: "It was wrong to have pulled the statue down in 1991. He's a historical figure with whom we lived for decades."
The statue was unveiled in 1970 by the then East German leader, Walter Ulbricht, the architect of the Berlin Wall. He called the monument a "victory for Socialism".
And in other news, a statue of Hitler leaves Tel Aviv residents distressed.
"This former memorial should not end up as a wreck on a rubbish dump."
Uh, yeah, it should. That's why it was cut up and buried. The commies have yet to go away.
"Goodbye, Lenin!" was a great film.
On a tangential note, Budapest has placed all its Commie-era statues and monuments in a park imaginatively known as Statue park. As a matter of fact, it is the last stop on a guided tour in the city that takes customers threw areas that played a part in the Communist period; e.g., certain squares that figured prominently in the 1956 uprising, etc. I didn't go myself when presented with the chance, but I would like to some day when the stars are right.
"Goodby Lenin" I loved that movie and recommend it highly. But the statue in that surreal scene looked to be made of bronze. In fact I assumed it to be a fiberglass mockup, it looked too heavy for the chopper carrying it.
If I had my druthers I would organize an eighties cold war film festival. I can't be the only Gen-Xer feeling a little nostalgic myself.
I'm not sure which is worse, Lenin or UN.
Hmmm. Sounds like that reasoning could be applied to some other historical figures in Germany.
I'd love for them to dig Lenin back in order for him to stand trial.
Why not dig back his victims too?
Communist moron A holes
It's always one sided historical figure. You cannot sue him, moveon.org and forget, but you can dig them back up and remember, but you can keep the victims underground and forgotten.
Selective history is no history, it's politics.
They can auction it off for display in some more appropriate place. I'm sure the Berkeley regents have enough in their discretionary fund.
I'm sure that none of the people longing for the good old days were all priviledged party members and not the proletariets who were standing on long lines for their potato ration
This just in: The Berlin City Council will place a monumental bust of Adolf Hitler in the Tiergarten. "It's part of our history and will be a great tourist attraction," explained a spokesman.
One of the best movies I've seen in years. The faked broadcasts were hillarious.
You have to start with John Milius's Red Dawn.
And The Ipcress File, and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Also, The Hunt for Red October, Firefox, and The Victors. And Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, China Gate, The Quiet American, and The Deer Hunter. Also, The Green Berets, The Boys in Company C, Air America, Heaven & Earth, Bat*21, and We Were Soldiers Once. And Fail-Safe, Seven Days in May, Hamburger Hill, Heartbreak Ridge, 84 Charlie MoPic and Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb.
Oh, yeah -- and a Leftie fave, The Bedford Incident, starring Sidney Poitier in a PC role as The (Liberal) Conscience of Humanity.
I think the BBC mini-series, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People would also be good -- with Patrick Stewart co-starring as "Karla". And as long as we're talking mini-series, ABC's The Day After would also be a good one.
And Rambo III.
Got more?
Come to Seattle, we have a HUGE statue of Lenin in the Fremont neighborhood.
Is he still dead? He looks dead in the picture, but the headline refers to his Resurrection.
Cordially,
It has to be strictly movies made during the Cold War's last decade 1980-1990 (my generation). The Vietnam movies are in a separate category. No James Bond flicks and only one Sly Stallone movie allowed (I would prefer "Rocky 4"). "Red Dawn," "Firefox" and "The Day After" definitely, but also romantic and comedic fare like "Moscow on the Hudson," "White Nights," "Letter to Brezhnev," etc. Even sci-fi ("2010: The Year We Make Contact", "Meteor"). The "Ipcress File" is sixties vintage but if you want Michael Caine there is still "The Fourth Protocol." Teen heartthobs: "Little Nikita," (River Phoenix) "Target," (Matt Dillon) "Gotcha!" (Anthony Edwards). Remember "The Experts" with John Travolta? "Spies Like Us"? Totally screwball.
Murder mysteries, "Gorky Park." Buddy cop films, "Red Heat" with Jim Belushi and Ahnuld (not to mention the other "Red Heat" with Linda Blair of "Exorcist" fame). Buddy swashbuckling films, "Iron Eagle 2." And deadly serious numbers like "The Beast" (the 1988 Afghan war film with an uncharacteristically lean and mean George Dzundza as a psycho Red army tank commander). There is a lot more out there than you might think.
Furthermore, what was MosFilm producing during those days? I would love to see how the russkies portrayed us. Here in D.C. we have film festivals of one sort or another every few months. There is certainly no shortage of russians here. It would be one hell of a blast to rent out a multiplex for a few evenings and let 'er rip.
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