In memory of a forgotten war that changed the course of history

The monument is dedicated to the memory of Russian soldiers and officers who died in the battle of Gumbinnensky on August 20, 1914 . It was established at the initiative of the Russian Military Historical Society . The monument was designed by the famous sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin . The monument was installed on the territory of the Technopolis GS innovation cluster, which is located near the town of Gusev (formerly Gumbinnen) in the Kaliningrad region ^[1] .

The idea of ​​composition is the social tragedy of the First World War. The universal catastrophe is expressed by three key figures: a soldier crucified on the “wheel of fate” and two women stretching hands to him — a widow and a mother. The pedestal of the monument is made in the form of cabinets destroyed during the bombardment, in the fragments of which photographs, maps and military documentation of those times are embedded. Near the monument are stands with historical inquiries about the events of the First World War ^[2] .

The grand opening of the monument took place on August 24, 2014 as part of the Gumbinnen Battle military history festival organized by the Russian Military History Society. The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society Vladimir Medinsky , ex-Governor of the Kaliningrad Region Nikolai Tsukanov , head of the Administration of the Gusev Urban District MO Yevgeny Mikhailov and author of the monument Mikhail Shemyakin ^[3] . The sculptor had a hand in replenishing the cultural heritage of New York, San Francisco, Venice, Paris, London, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Now the work of the eminent author appeared in Technopolis GS, which was an important stage on the path of development in the innovation cluster of the socio-cultural environment ^[3] .