Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, War memorial at Defence Forces Cemetery, Tallinn, Estonia
The Bronze Soldier of Tallinn is a memorial made from bronze depicting a Soviet soldier in uniform holding a rifle, standing on a granite base. The statue is located within the Defence Forces Cemetery, surrounded by war graves and markers from different periods.
Sculptor Enn Roos created the memorial in 1947 to commemorate fallen Red Army soldiers from the Second World War. The statue originally stood on Tõnismäe hill in the city centre before being moved to its current site in 2007.
The Defence Forces Cemetery serves as a resting place for war dead from different periods, with Russian visitors often laying flowers at the monument. The site remains a place of remembrance where people express their personal views on twentieth-century history.
The memorial is easily accessible by public transport to the stop at Filtri tee 14 and open throughout the year. The cemetery is a quiet location with paved paths that are easy to walk along.
The relocation of the statue in 2007 triggered serious unrest in Tallinn that became known as Bronze Night. During that night, riots broke out that had a lasting impact on the political climate in Estonia.
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