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I think I’ve posted enough about the Soviet Statue Graveyard, but this is the introduction panel and I rather like the power of their line that “freedom may be fleeting”. Tyrant power can crumble and even the most imposing figures can find themselves toppled.

Unlike my last post of a Lenin statue that didn’t go on display, here’s one that did. It was unveiled on 4 November 1981 in Pärnu and is a copy of Matti Varik’s monument that was in Kotka City in Finland, designed to make him look thoughtful and statesmanlike although it’s more a look of an unwanted houseguest now. It was only removed relatively recently because the Finnish no longer wanted anything to do with Russian oppression and there are now no Lenin statues left in Finland on public display. Even when the Finnish statue was standing, it wasn’t revered and was treated as something of a figure of fun. This monument was on display at Rüütli plats in Pärnu until it was removed on 20 September 1990. It was plonked into storage by the Pärnu Government until it was transferred to this museum in 2016. As these things go, I thought that this was one of the better designed sculptures and at least it’s obvious who it is and doesn’t make him look too much like a gnome.

Well this was a bloody waste of money, but for reasons unknown the communist authorities were still merrily ordering statues of Lenin in the late 1980s. This one was designed by Matti Varik between 1987 and 1988, ready to put somewhere prominent in Tallinn. Unfortunately for all concerned, by the time they had got around to thinking about where to put it, Estonia broke free of Soviet oppression and went independent. At that point, it was evident that a statue of Lenin wasn’t going to go down well in Tallinn, although in reality it’s not clear if anyone really wanted it before independence. It was stored in the monumental sculpture studio of the artists’ union ARS for some years and then it came to this museum in 2008. Part of the reason that I really engaged with this collection of statues and memorials is that I liked understanding their previous placement and relevance to their surroundings, but this one is quite different. Although I still like the story that it tells, the naivety of the authorities that they thought that this was ever a good idea.

Mikhail Kalinin (1875-1946) was a prominent figure in Soviet history, known for his long tenure as head of state, first of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and then of the Soviet Union, from 1919 to 1946. He was often referred to as the ‘All-Union Elder’ due to his peasant background and his perceived role as a grandfatherly figure for the nation. Born into a peasant family, Kalinin’s early life was marked by hard work and a desire for education. He became involved in revolutionary activities as a young man, joining the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.

Kalinin played an active role in the Russian Revolution of 1917, and after the Bolsheviks seized power, he rose through the ranks of the Soviet government. His appointment as head of state was partly due to his peasant origins, which the regime used to portray itself as representing the interests of the common people. However, despite his high position, Kalinin’s actual power was limited, especially after Joseph Stalin consolidated his control over the Soviet Union. Kalinin’s role was largely ceremonial, and he often acted as a spokesperson for the regime, travelling throughout the country and meeting with ordinary citizens, a bit like John Prescott with Tony Blair. Effectively, he was just a puppet, unable to do anything and even unable to save his wife from political repression.

After his death, the Estonian authorities wanted a statue as they obviously didn’t have enough statues of other people dotted around everywhere. They held a competition and then rejected all of the results, instead going with a design by Aleksander Kaasik. In 1950, they plonked the granite and bronze arrangement down at what was then Stalingrad Square, but is now Towers’ Square. The museum notes that when Estonia voted for independence some workers at the Kalinin Factory, which was initially constructed as a railway works, took the statue into protection for fear that the city authorities might remove it. Anyway, this plan worked marvellously until the guards had a lunch break and the authorities took it on 3 May 1991. At some stage the hand has been lost, likely to bronze thieves. Not much exists in Estonia now with his name on it, although for the moment at least his name lives on in Königsberg, known by the Russians as Kaliningrad and one of the few cities to have kept the name of a leading communist.

The timeline of this sculpture is different to the ones that I’ve wittered on about so far on this blog. It’s a statue of Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) and it was unveiled in Tallinn on 20 July 1950 in a green area opposite the Baltic Station. The bronze statue was designed by Nikolai Tomski and used metal that had been melted down from a statue of Martin Luther. When Stalin died the Soviet authorities thought that they might rethink things somewhat and so the statue was removed and put into long-term storage at the Department of Roadbuildings and Repairs, barely lasting ten years. It was nearly sold for scrap metal, but following Estonia’s independence it was brought to the museum.

There’s no nuance needed here really when writing about Joseph Stalin. Google AI puts it as succinctly as I could….. “Joseph Stalin is widely regarded as one of history’s most brutal and tyrannical dictators. His actions caused immense suffering and death, and his legacy is overwhelmingly negative.” It’s thought that there might have been tens of thousands of statues of Stalin in the Soviet Union in the 1950s and a few of them are still standing, mainly in Georgia and remote areas still heavily under communist influence.

This memorial commemorates the life of Lembit Pärn (1903-1974) and it’s unusual in this little series of posts to have someone that actually wasn’t executed by the Soviets and then forgiven a couple of decades later. Pärn was born in Suure-Kõpu Parish in Estonia and he began his military career in the Estonian Army in 1926. He furthered his training at the Military Academy in Tallinn and held various officer positions. When the Second World War erupted and the Soviet Union occupied Estonia, Pärn was drafted into the Red Army. He rather liked this arrangement and he steadily climbed the ranks and was ultimately appointed commander of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps in 1942. This corps, largely made up of Estonian conscripts, participated in crucial battles on the Eastern Front, including the Battle of Narva.

At the end of the Second World War (and above is a photo of him in Tallinn on 16 June 1945) Pärn remained in the Soviet Army, holding several high-ranking positions, such as serving as the Estonian SSR’s People’s Commissar of Defence in 1945. He was also instrumental in establishing Estonian military units within the Soviet military structure and trying to resist any attempts of the country becoming independent.

This bronze and granite memorial was unveiled on 5 May 1985 in Tallinn, designed by Arseni Mölder, and it lingered for longer than many others in this museum collection as it was only removed on 29 May 2001 on the orders of the Tallinn City Government. He was probably a brilliant military commander (and he did well not to be executed in the Great Purge) and is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery, the same location that Boris Yeltsin was interred.

Coming back to this series, and there aren’t a huge amount left, this is a statue of Hans Pöögelmann. He was born on 30 December 1875 in Aidu Parish, Governorate of Livonia (present-day Estonia) and was a dedicated socialist and later communist politician and poet. He began his career in journalism and became deeply involved in the Estonian socialist movement, joining the Bolshevik faction. In 1917, he was elected to the Estonian Provincial Assembly and rose as a leading figure in the Estonian Bolshevik movement, translating The Communist Manifesto into Estonian. However, after the Estonian War of Independence, Pöögelmann left Estonia for the Soviet Union in 1919. He continued his political activities and writing while in the USSR, producing numerous works on economics and the workers’ movement in Estonia. During the Stalinist Great Purge in 1938, Pöögelmann was arrested on charges of ‘anti-Soviet activities’ and executed in Moscow. His legacy was later revisited, and he was officially rehabilitated by the Soviet authorities after Stalin’s death.

The memorial was designed by August Vomm and was unveiled in Tallinn at the Imanta Street Square on 30 December 1960. The bronze element was removed in July 1992 and then the granite base was removed in spring 2000. From 25 September 1959 until 1 January 1991, there was a Hans Pöögelmann Street in Tallinn, but it has now been renamed Kaupmehe tänav (or Merchant Street). There’s limited evidence to suggest that he was involved directly in war crimes, but he remains a controversial figure.