Cranes (monument)

In 1977, a competition was announced in Saratov for the best project of a monument to compatriots who died on the fronts of World War II . The project of architect Yu. I. Menyakin won.

The idea and architectural design of the Memorial is inspired by the song “Cranes” to the verses of Rasul Gamzatov . “Sometimes it seems to me that the soldiers, / From the bloody fields that didn’t come, / Once they didn’t fall into our land, / And they turned into white cranes ...” Subsequently, at a personal meeting between Yu. I. Menyakin and R. G. Gamzatov in Moscow, the poet said that this was how he represented the material embodiment of his poem . The main theme of the Memorial is bright memory and bright sadness.

The construction of the Memorial began in the spring of 1980 and ended in April 1982 . The construction of the memorial began and was carried out on the basis of the Decree of the Bureau of the Saratov City Committee of the CPSU and the Executive Committee of the City Council of People’s Deputies No. 118 dated April 2, 1980, which states: “Create in the Victory Park a decorative and sculptural composition dedicated to the Saratovites who died on the fronts of the Great World War II 1941-1945 The author of the composition to approve the architect Menyakina Yu. I. "

From the memoirs of O. A. Menyakina. “When the cranes were designed, our apartment turned into a sculpture workshop. First, Yuri Ivanovich cast tin cranes figures, gradually increasing size, experimented with proportions . Several points of installation of the Memorial on Falcon Mountain were considered . Geological studies of the soil were carried out, in the presence of landslide zones , the degree of safety of the structure and the dependence of its safety on climatic environmental conditions, the selection of building materials were determined. After the final approval of the installation site, construction work began. For the convenience of visitors to the Memorial, the elevation angles and slopes of the hillside, the width and height of the parapet and the steps of the stairs were calculated. To relax after climbing the observation deck and to the base of the pylons along the pedestrian paths spreading from the foot of the hill, benches were set under the crown of trees ... "

The elevated natural terrain - Sokolovaya Gora - during the construction of the Memorial was used by the architect for its maximum viewing by the residents of the city . To exalt the monument, a man-made Hill was built on Sokolovaya Hill - as an integral part of the Memorial. The hill in the form of a truncated cone consisted of clogged reinforced concrete piles and earth, compacted by vibratory platforms. These works were carried out by the military builders of Saratovspetsstroy. The hill is covered with green spaces (lawn grass and low-growing shrubs), it is surrounded by a wide pedestrian asphalt path.

For the external design of the Memorial, in addition to smalt and pavers , local materials were used. During the construction and manufacture of elements, the latest and unique technologies were used. All the elements of the Memorial from its beginning - the Memorial Stone - and to the top of the Hill are located on one ascending line.

The architectural ensemble of the “Cranes” memorial consists of many elements: Entrance Square, Memorial Stone (Central Plate with Initiation); Walk of Fame; Fountain of memory; Man-made hill, Front military staircase, Observation platform, Pylons with five-pointed gold stars fixed in the center and a wedge of 12 silver cranes flying to the West. And also - the building of the branch of the Museum of Local Lore (now - Museum of Military Glory). Each element and design details of the Memorial, including landscaping and floristry , were thought out to the smallest detail and deeply symbolic.

The monument consists of three reinforced concrete pylons 40 meters high with a stylized image of twelve cranes, symbolizing the souls of dead soldiers. The image of flying cranes is suggested in the song “Cranes” to the words of Gamzatov . Interestingly, only eleven birds can be seen at a time.

A crane wedge of 12 birds flying to the West , where there were battles with the enemy, symbolizes the immortality of those who died for their homeland. The birds are made of stainless metal. The crane wedge is a huge construction; a system of metal frames connected in a closed triangle ; long consoles and fasteners. At least 30 design variants of the crane wedge were calculated on the computer so that it could withstand voltage and all fluctuations in air flow. Crane beak under wind pressure can fluctuate horizontally in a radius of up to one meter.

Five-pointed Golden Stars (three meters in diameter; covered with gold leaf). There were three of them at the Memorial: two - in the center of the pylons (from the south and north); one - in the center of the fountain, under the water surface (a star in a smaller fountain, anodized with imitation of gold). Five-pointed gold stars with polished dihedral beams correspond to the form of the Gold Star medal - a state award to persons awarded the highest degree of distinction of the USSR - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union .

The Walk of Fame from the Memorial Stone to the beginning of the Staircase is paved with paving stones. Paving stones are also paved at the base of the Pylons . Paving stones - as a symbol. On the paving stones of Moscow's Red Square on November 7, 1941, the military parade in honor of the 47th anniversary of the Great October Revolution began a difficult long journey to Victory, ending on the paving stones of Berlin on May 9, 1945. A large massive round-convex paving stone is unusual and uncomfortable for visitors to the Memorial , but it really creates a feeling of a difficult path to victory. Paving stones were imported from Astrakhan and Rabochaya streets, where a Belgian company laid it before 1917. The need for paving for the Memorial is the main reason for the dismantling of the stone pavement and asphalting of these streets in 1980-1982.

The climb to the monument itself is carried out through five flights of stairs, on each of them you can see the year and the names of cities in defense and (or) the liberation of which the Saratovites took part:

• 1941, cities: Brest, Smolensk, Odessa, Yelnya, Volokolamsk, Yelets, Tikhvin, Kalinin, Kaluga.
• 1942, cities: Mozhaysk, Moscow, Yukhnov, Kharkov, Stavropol, Rostov, Novorossiysk, Stalingrad.
• 1943, cities: Voronezh, Leningrad, Rzhev, Kursk, Belgorod, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Bryansk.
• 1944, cities: Riga, Petrozavodsk, Minsk, Vilnius, Chisinau, Sofia, Bucharest, Novgorod, Tallinn.
• 1945, cities: Berlin, Koenigsberg, Warsaw, Prague, Dresden, Bratislava, Belgrade, Budapest, Vienna, Port Arthur, Pyongyang.

The memorial complex is being developed and supplemented with new elements, which is quite natural - subject to a careful attitude to the originally created symbols and the appearance of the Cranes Memorial. Until 1999, restoration repair work did not change its original appearance.

Since 1999, changes have been made - with the addition of new elements. On May 9, 1999, the Eternal Fire was lit in front of the Memorial Stone. On the Walk of Fame, memorial plates with the names of the Saratov people carved on them — cavaliers of the Order of Glory to the Heroes of the Soviet Union , Heroes of Russia , and also busts twice to the Heroes of the Soviet Union are installed. 1999-2014 the Memorial stone and its pedestal were changed three times - each time changing color, shape and design.

The Initiation Text and its location on the Memorial Stone have been changed. On the back, the text is completely deleted; on the front side dates and some words are excluded, the word order is changed.

The technical structure and design details of the fountain have been changed - in place of the Golden Star a black stone slab rises above the water surface, which in the future closes the first steps of the Staircase. The framing of the entrance and facing of the fountain has been replaced. They, like the Memorial stone with a pedestal, are lined with expensive materials of dark red-brown tones - in the same way with the design of memorial plates with the names of Heroes.

Replaced lamp shades on lighting poles: now dull-white, elongated. Silver poplars replaced the dark spruce . As a result of these changes, the memorial complex has lost the appearance of a single architectural ensemble .

Changes in the appearance of the Memorial were made with deviations from the Author’s project, and made during his lifetime - without discussion and agreement with the author of the project Yu. I. Menyakin .

Today, only part of the original, symbolic and uniquely poetic architectural ensemble towering on a man-made hill remains intact. It is a staircase and the circumference of the observation deck framed by a light parapet , pylons with a silver wedge of flying cranes and a golden star in the center - like a delicate watercolor against the background of the Saratov sky and the shimmering water surface of the Volga .

• Documents of the family archive of Yu. I. Menyakin (Military ID of Yu. I. Menyakin, photographs, other documents);
• Documents of the Volzhsky RVK Archive of the city of Saratov, Case A-5896 Personal file of Officer Yu. I. Menyakin (track record, autobiographies, certifications, award sheets, production and party characteristics, other documents).
• Documents of the funds of the State Institution “Saratov State Museum of Military Glory” (photographs by Yu. I. Menyakin, letters and publications, other documents).
• B. N. Donetsk, E. K. Maksimov “Architects of Saratov” (Saratov, Benefit Publishing House, 2005, pp. 144-151).
• The Book of Memory of the Saratov Region (Volume 13, p. 42) (Regional Volga Publishing House "Children's Book", Saratov, 2000);
• Memorial plaque (Saratov city, Cosmonauts Embankment, 5)
• Irina Kraynova, “The Soldier Went to the West” (newspaper “Saratov City Hall” on May 5, 1995, No. 18 (107), p. 6);
• O. A. Menyakina “Menyakin Yuri Ivanovich” (brochure, samizdat);
• O. A. Menyakin, “Recover the memory” (the magazine “Public Opinion”, April 2009, p. 60-62.);
• Memoirs of Olga Alexandrovna Menyakina (December 2011);
• A. Lukovnikov “Friends-fellow soldiers” - The story of the creation of the song “Cranes” (Moscow, “Music”, 1985);
• Olga Reznichenko “Over the Mountain of the Falcon Crane” (Poems and songs, samizdat, Saratov, 2003);
• Irina Konnova “Cranes in the Blue Sky” (Poems and songs; Saratov, Scientific Book publishing house, 2008);
• Boris Glubokov “Unknown Menyakin” (newspaper Saratov panorama, February 13-19, 2008, No. 6 (627);
• Military Encyclopedic Dictionary (Moscow, Military Publishing House, 1983);
• Encyclopedia “The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (Moscow, “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1985);
• Encyclopedia “Cities of Russia” (Moscow, “Big Russian Encyclopedia”, 2003);
• Decree No. 118 of April 2, 1980 by the Bureau of the Saratov City Committee of the CPSU and the Executive Committee of the City Council of People's Deputies "On the construction of decorative and sculptural composition in the Victory Park (Funds of the Saratov Regional State Archive).
• Materials collected by the family bibliographer Komarova Nina Yakovlevna.
• Menyakin, Yuri Ivanovich. - Saratov: Volga LLC, 2015. - 152.c: silt. ISBN 978-5-9904233-9-8 Art Edition

• Life and work of Menyakin Yuri Ivanovich Architect Menyakin
• http://lifeinsaratov.ru/parki/park-pobedy/pamyatnik-zhuravli.html
• Memory card. The memorial complex "Cranes" is dedicated to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War
• Saratov Regional Scientific Library
• Saratov State Museum of Military and Labor Glory
• The history of the Saratov "Cranes"
• The fiery history of Saratov is carried to the descendants of the "Cranes"
• Photos of Y. I. Menyakin and his works
• Crane Monument | Victory Park | Saratov
• The widow of the author of "Cranes" appealed to Radaev
• Ten outstanding memorial complexes of Russia Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Federal Agency for Tourism
• The widow of the architect Menyakin turned to Vladimir Putin
• The widow of the architect Menyakin appeals to the police chief about the red tape of the investigation of a possible copyright violation by the Volga Publishing House represented by A. Yu. Grafchenko.