A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part VI: The Former German Democratic Republic

Due to the abundance of Stalinist architecture in the former East Germany, I decided that it'd be fitting to have it on a separate post in order to not clog up the previous post involving the rest of the Eastern Bloc.

East Berlin is probably one of the more well known and famous areas associated with Stalinist architecture, not just in Europe, but the rest of the world.

Strausberger Platz, in Berlin, Germany

Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin, Germany

Karl-Marx-Allee was originally named as Stalinallee, but due to the period of De-Stalinization, the boulevard's name was changed to its current one to pay homage to the founder of Marxist thought. 

The Russian Embassy in Berlin, Germany

 List Platz in Dresden, Germany

 Frankfurter Tor in Berlin, Germany

Ernst-Reuter-Allee in Magdeburg, Germany

 The City Centre of Magdeburg, Germany

On the next post, we'll explore how China was influenced by Stalinist architecture, and look at several cities and areas of China where these influences can still be seen today. 

A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part V: The Former Eastern Bloc

On the next leg of this series, we're going to take a look at the former Eastern Bloc which consisted of the countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.

Now for the purposes of simplicity, the former German Democratic Republic will be explored in a different post as the GDR had a sizable amount of architecture that would make this post just way too long.

The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland

 Ministry of Agriculture in Warsaw, Poland

Nowa Huta District of Krakow, Poland

Former Communist Party House in Sofia, Bulgaria

Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania. 

Interestingly enough, the Palace of Parliament in Romania was commissioned to be built several decades after the initial phase of Stalinist architecture had been built, which was during the 1950's. The Palace of Parliament was started in 1984 and finally completed in 1990.

Dunaújváros in Hungary

 

TZUM Department Store in Sofia, Bulgaria

 

House of the Free Press in Bucharest, Romania.

Hotel Crowne Plaza in Prague, Czech Republic 

On the next installment, we'll take a look at the German Democratic Republic, more commonly referred to as East Germany!

A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part IV: The Former Central Asian Soviet Republics

I haven't updated this in quite some time, but now is a good time as any to update this series. Today, it's the turn of Central Asia to take a brief, very brief, place in the sun.

The Triumph of Astana, a building on the model of the Seven Sisters of Moscow, built after the the fall of the Soviet Union

Exhibition of Economic Achievements in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Bishek's Main Square in Kyrgyzstan

 

A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part III: The Former Ukrainian Soviet Republic

Well, continuing on from last time, today I'll be showing some examples of Stalinist architecture. This time however, it's the Ukraine's time to shine.

Khreshchatyk Street in Kiev

Independence Square in Kiev

 Freedom Square in Kharkiv

University of Kharkiv

The current Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

Kiev City Council 

Central Train Station of Kharkiv

Next time, we'll be exploring the rest of the Former Soviet Union!

A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part II: The Former Belorussian Soviet Republic

Now, I'm going to continue to share more photos and examples of Constructivist architecture. This country we will be exploring would Belarus, a country that still has a massive amount of Soviet architecture left over.

 

Independence Avenue in Minsk, Belarus 

 

A Stalinist Apartment in Minsk. 

  The House of Government in Minsk. 

 KGB Headquarters in Minsk. (The Belorussian Secret Police is still called KGB)

Victory Square in Minsk. 

Trade Unions Palace of Culture in Minsk 

In the next post we'll explore more of the former Soviet Republics!

A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part I: The Former Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Now, this might be seen as the continuation of my earlier blog post involving my somewhat informative rant on both Stalinist Architecture and Constructivism. In this series of blog posts, I will just try my best and share Stalinist Architecture that can be found around the world.

The first country that has a sizeable amount of these buildings is the biggest republic in the former Soviet Union, the Russian Soviet Republic. Here are several examples of the buildings built in Stalinist style in the Russian Federation.

This is the Moscow State University in Russia, one of the Seven Sisters of Moscow

The main entrance to All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow

 The Red Army Theatre in Moscow

 

Rosenfeld tower in Moscow

 Hotel Ukraina in Moscow, one of the Seven Sisters of Moscow

 

The Moscow Metro

Main building of the South Ural State University in Chelyabinsk  

 City Duma in Yekaterinburg 

 Stalinist apartment blocks in Moscow. 

Stalinist architecture has seen a form of revival in today's Russia leading to newer Stalinist style buildings popping up in the skyline. 

This is the Triumph Palace in Moscow, built only recently, in the style of the "Seven Sisters of Moscow"

On the next part of this picture series, I will post Stalinist buildings from the other former Soviet republics such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The Days of Stalinist Art and Architecture

Well, I guess it's time to continue my rants and somewhat informative blog series about Soviet architecture.

Today, I will start to work and explain the next era in the Soviet Union's respective eras on architecture and art. This would be the days of Stalin, and how his own insanity and ideological differences with the revolution destroyed the relative freedom that the revolution gave to architects and artists and how his style had a lasting legacy on the many skylines of cities all around the Eastern Block.

A Stalinist poster. Propaganda posters such as these became more and more commonplace as the freedom and ingenuity of the Constructivist Era slowly eroded away against Stalin's own personal taste.

As Stalin took power in the late 1920's, The Soviet Union was a bit different from the more darker and stereotypical view that many in the West had about the country. The country didn't have the massive collectivised farms that was typical in the countryside. Small private enterprises existed alongside state enterprises as the New Economic Policy (NEP) began the road to recovery for the country's economy after the chaos of the First World War and the Russian Revolution.

The rise of Stalin to General Secretary of the Party began the long road for his own vision of Russia to start and flourish. Socialist Realism became the only allowed and endorsed style of art in the intellectual and academic circles. Socialist Realism was a style that was created in the country as many in the Communist Party deemed earlier art styles such as Impressionism and Cubism as "decadent bourgeois art". Socialist Realism became official state policy in 1932 linking its art styles to the Stalinist ideology that the government at the time championed.

Spring Day by Nikolai Podzneev. This painting was one of the styles that was common throughout art of the Socialist Realism style which gave more of an emphasis on the lives of the proletariat.

In the world of architecture, the avant-garde and futuristic styles of Constructivism utterly disappeared in Stalin's reign of the country only to be replaced by the imposing style of the Neo-Renaissance buildings that dot Moscow today. Almost all of these buildings were usually associated with the Socialist Realism school of art and architecture which at this time was the only art style allowed in the country.

The Moscow Metro. The first lines were built in the 1930's giving the metro's stations a grand and imposing feeling to all those who walk amongst its halls, something that Stalinist architecture was meant to do.

Stalinist architecture took a more international approach by the end of the second world war as Soviet influence spread from Berlin to Beijing bringing this art style towards many of the Communist states that arose out of the war. Beijing's Tiananmen Square's buildings, which were built in the tenth anniversary of the Communist victory in the Civil War resemble this. As the Stalin's Soviet Union arose to superpower status, the nation's art arose to international prominence as well. 

The University of Moscow, one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated Moscow's skyline.