Mother Motherland (Volgograd)

The work of sculptor E.V. Vuchetich and engineer N.V. Nikitin is a multi-meter figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword . The statue is an allegorical image of the Motherland , inviting its sons to battle with the enemy.

The construction of the monument began in May 1959 and was completed on October 15, 1967. The sculpture at the time of its creation was the highest sculpture in the world. Restoration work on the main monument of the monument-ensemble was carried out twice: in 1972 and 1986; in particular, in 1972 the sword was replaced.

It is most likely that the sculptor sculpted the figure from Nina Dumbadze , an athlete-disco player, and his face from Vera’s wife ^[5] . According to various sources, Anastasia Antonovna Peshkova ^[6] , Valentina Izotova ^[7] or Ekaterina Grebneva ^[8] also posed for sculpture. It is also believed that the statue has parallels with the Marseillaise figure on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris , and that the statue’s pose was inspired by the statue of Nika of Samothrace .

At night, the sculpture is illuminated by spotlights.

The sculpture is made of prestressed reinforced concrete - 5500 tons of concrete and 2400 tons of metal structures (without the foundation on which it stands).

The total height of the monument is 85 meters (the sculpture itself) ^[9] - 87 meters (sculpture with a mounting plate). It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of a female figure without a sword is 52 meters ^[10] . The mass of the monument is over 8 thousand tons.

The statue stands on a slab 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground.

The sculpture is hollow. Inside, the entire statue consists of separate cell cells, like rooms in a building. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is 25-30 centimeters. The rigidity of the frame is supported by 117 metal cables (taking into account two loops - 4 cables each, and a tension chamber - 10 metal cables), which are constantly in tension.

The sword, 33 meters long and weighing 14 tons, was originally made of stainless steel sheathed with sheets of titanium . The huge mass and high sailness of the sword, due to its enormous size, caused a strong swing of the sword under the influence of wind loads, which led to the occurrence of excessive mechanical stress in the place of fastening the hand holding the sword to the body of the sculpture. Deformations of the sword design also caused movements of the titanium sheathing sheets, creating an unpleasant hearing sound of rattling metal. Therefore, in 1972, the blade was replaced with another - entirely consisting of steel - and holes were provided in the upper part of the sword to reduce its windage ^{[11] [12]} . The reinforced concrete structure of the sculpture was strengthened in 1986 on the recommendation of the NIIIZhB expert group led by R. L. Serykh .

Design stability calculations were performed by N.V. Nikitin .

“The horizontal displacement of the upper part of the 85-meter monument currently amounted to 211 millimeters, or 75% of the permissible calculations. Deviations have been going on since 1966. If from 1966 to 1970 the deviation was 102 millimeters, then from 1970 to 1986 - 60 millimeters, until 1999 - 33 millimeters, from 2000-2008 - 16 millimeters, ”said the director of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve“ Battle of Stalingrad "" Alexander Velichkin.

In March 1965, the Gosstroy of the USSR issued a recommendation to strengthen the foundation of the sculpture standing on the flooded Maykop clay to prevent "sliding" towards the Volga. In 2013, the architect Vladimir Tserkovnikov sent an open letter to the Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky, with fears about the sliding of the foundation and the possible collapse of the sculpture. The director of the museum complex, Alexander Vasin, rejected these concerns ^[13] .

The statue restoration project was prepared from 2008 to 2016 ^[14] . In October 2010, work began to ensure the safety of the statue ^[15] ; it was her last partial repair ^[14] . In 2017, emergency operations were carried out: the ropes inside the statue were replaced to ensure its stability, the interior was repaired, the lighting and fire extinguishing system were replaced. In March 2019, the restoration of the outer surface of the statue began, which is planned to be completed by March 2020 ^[14] . For this, 30 tiers of scaffolding 60 meters high and 270 tons in weight were created around the sculpture ^[16] . The main goals are to clean the statue of dirt and moss, return it to its original color and repair cracks in concrete. Such a large-scale comprehensive restoration of the monument is carried out for the first time ^[16] .

• The sculpture "Motherland is calling!" Is listed in the Guinness Book of Records , as the largest sculpture-statue in the world at that time. Its height is 52 meters, the arm is 20 meters long and the sword is 33 meters long. The total height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The weight of the monument is 8 thousand tons, and the sword is 14 tons (for comparison: the Statue of Liberty in New York is 46 meters high; the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro is 38 meters). Presently ^{[ when? ] the} statue takes 9th place in the list of the tallest statues in the world ^[17] . From the time it was built to the construction of the Unity statue in 2018, it was the tallest non-religious statue in the world.

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  From left to right, a comparison in height (including a pedestal): the Statue of Unity , Buddha of the Spring Temple , the Statue of Liberty , Mother Motherland, the statue of Christ the Redeemer and the "David" by Michelangelo.

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  Victory Monument , Space explorers , Monument to Peter I (Moscow) , Mother Motherland, Worker and collective farmer , Monument to Lenin at the entrance to the Volga-Don Canal , Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Second World War

• Vuchetich told Andrei Sakharov : “My boss is asking me why her mouth is open, because it is ugly. I answer: And she screams - for the Motherland ... your mother! ” ^[18] .
• The silhouette of the sculpture is present on the coat of arms and flag of the Volgograd region .
• A copy of the sculpture is installed in the city of Manchuria ( China )

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  Postage stamp "The Motherland Calls!" GDR 1983

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  Mother Motherland in Manchuria (China)

• " Motherland " (Kiev)
• " Motherland " (St. Petersburg)
• " Mother Volga " (Rybinsk)

• Mother Motherland: the history of creation, photographs
• The construction of the "Motherland"
• Information about the memorial complex on the website of the State Symbol
• New Izvestia: Cosmetics for Motherland
• Construction of the complex (neopr.) . The memorial complex Mamaev Kurgan. Date of treatment February 2, 2017.