Vosstanovlenie Pamiatnikov Arkhitektury Leningrada (Reconstruction of Architectural Objects of Leningrad)
Leningrad: Stroyiznat, 1989. Second Edition, Corrected, 1 of 30,000. Hardcover. Decorative front and back cover. 492, [4] pages. Illustrations (many in color). Footnotes. Text is in Russian, Illustrations need no translation. Includes some 'before and after' images. This discusses the Post-1945 rebuilding of the cultural heritage of Leningrad. The siege had ended, the war was over, but Leningrad was shattered. Thousands of apartments, factories, schools, hospitals, power plants, roads - in short, the city's entire infrastructure - had been destroyed or damaged during almost three years of persistent air raids, shelling, and fires. Over a million civilians had died of starvation, cold, and disease; another million had been evacuated. A motley 600,000 weakened, emaciated people remained to rebuild the ravaged city. Rebuilding included the arduous task of disposing of the bodies of the blockade's many victims. Almost uncountable, about half a million of them were buried in 186 mass graves at the Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery, which during the war was just an enormous empty pit into which the bodies had been dumped. In the words of the Leningrad poet, Sergei Davydov: "Here lies half the city." The war was not over when Leningrad began to cure the heavy wounds of the Siege and damage from German troops. By the time of the Victory Soviet army returned to the city. Leningrad looked fresh and clean. Some of the museums (for instance The Cabin of Peter the Great) were opened in 1944. Repairs to the Hermitage, which had suffered considerable damage during the bombing attacks, started even before the war ended. Many of its numerous rooms contained nothing but empty gilt frames; shortly after the Nazi invasion, museum staff and volunteers had worked around the clock, packing two freight trains with over a million exhibits that were shipped to the town of Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains. Ironically, a good portion of these treasures were safely stored in the Ipatiev House, where in 1918 the last Romanov Tsar and his family had been murdered by the Bolsheviks. In October 1945, these invaluable objects were shipped back to Leningrad and by 4 November, sixty-nine halls in the Hermitage had been opened to the public. The ruins of some world-famous buildings were covered with cardboard walls, depicting their pre-war appearance. The whole city, the whole country, were dreaming of a revival and this difficult task was solved. Despite the enthusiasm of the people, an important part of national economy had been ruined by the war and most people had to live in rather primitive conditions, working hard and keeping faith into a bright future. Food rationing proceeds throughout the 1940s. Since 2.8 million square meters of city housing was wholly destroyed and another 2.2 million square meters were seriously damaged, housing became a main problem. Until the 1960's most of the people in Leningrad lived in the communal apartments. Against all odds the city was restored. Unlike many other cities, Leningrad was not modernized, but restored to the highest pre-war standards. The palaces of Peterhof and Pushkin were almost fully rebuilt. It took lots of time and huge amounts of money. Some of the suburban palaces, like the Aleksandrovsky Palace of Nicholas II in Pushkin, are still waiting for restoration. City museums are reopened after repairing of the war damages. But a sign of Bombardment Warning on Nevsky Prospect and the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery still remind us of the tragic past of Leningrad. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Urban Design, Reconstruction, St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Bomb Damage, War Damage, Restoration, Museums, Monuments, Cultural Heritage, Architecture, Architectural Design, Conservation
[Book #83950]
Price: $250.00