Fountain "Barmalei" (Volgograd, Russia) - description, history, location, reviews, photos and videos.

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The fountain on the square at the city station became the hero of the cult military photo, on which the sculptures of the kids circling in the dance are depicted against the background of the burning houses of Stalingrad. The fountain appeared here in 1935 and symbolized the plot from the work of K. Chukovsky "Barmalei". The same compositions stood in many Soviet cities, but it was Volgogradsky who became popular thanks to the photocarbaged, made by Journalist E. Evserichin after the German aviation.

In the people, he was called in different ways: "Children's round dance", "Children", "Children and Crocodile".

What to see

The townspeople really liked the fountain. In the center, on the pedestal of 6 cheerful pioneers drove a dance around a crocodile curled girl, and in the circumference, the frogs were sitting with open mouths, of which the water jets were beaten. Figures of children are made in Kharkov on the project of Romualda Iodo, during transportation they suffered greatly, they were restored in place and twisted to hide chips and seams.

Now there are two copies in Volgograd. None of the original former USSR Not survived.

In 2013, at the initiative of the club of bikers "Night Wolves", the fountain was established at the initial place - on the station Square. It was increased in the amount of 20 cm and made from modern plastic. The second copy in real size is at the foot of the Hergardt Mill, but this is not a fountain, but just a sculptural composition.

Practical information

Address: Volgograd, Plivery pl. and ul. Marshal Chuikova, 47a.

How to get to the fountain on the square of the railway station on buses No. 6, 21, 52E, 88; before the composition on the street. Marshal Chuikova - from the station's high-speed tram "Lenin Square" go through the square to st. Soviet.

Fountain "Barmalei" ("Children's Horovod", "Crocodile", "Children", "Children and Crocodile", "Dancing Children") - Fountain, who was located in the city of Stalingrad and was installed before the Tsaritsyn Defense Museum. In 2013, in Volgograd, two replicas of the fountain were established in memory of him: one next to the Hergardt Mill, imitating a destroyed fountain, imprinted on the famous photo, the other on the station square, similar, but somewhat different from the historical Stalingrad fountain.

The monument was a circle of six children driving a dance around the crocodile. It was a typical fountain, similar fountains were in other cities. For example, in Voronezh (in the Koltsovsky Square), Dnepropetrovsk (in the park. Chkalov), Orenburg, Kazan (in the Gorky Park), Chernigov (near Red Square). Fountain became famous thanks to several photos of E. Evserikhin, imprinted the contrast between the carelessly friable children and the horrific picture of the destruction of the city during Stalingrad battle. Photos were made on August 23 after the airborne nouris of German aviation per city. The photo was called: "August 23, 1942. After the massive nourge of Hitler's aviation. " None of these fountains have been preserved so far. The Stalingrad Fountain was restored (it can be seen on post-war photographs, for example, on the photographs of Mark Redkin from the first post-war physical culture parade in May 1945), but in 1951 it was dismantled during the construction of the city center. Fountains in other cities were also disassembled in the 1950s - 1960s. Fountain in Voronezh, in the Koltsovsky Square, was replaced with another fountain. Fountain in Dnepropetrovsk, in the park they. Chkalova, demolished, and now in its place an asphalt site. The fountain in Orenburg is also disassembled, in its place a monument to Pushkin and Gald, the work of the hope of Petina. There is a similar fountain in Omsk, on the territory of the Omsk Agrarian University. The Stalingrad Fountain can be seen in the films "Enemy at the Gate" and "V - So Vendetta", "Clockwork Orange", as well as in Computer Games Commandos 3: Destination Berlin, Red Orchestra 2: Heroes Of Stalingrad, Stalingrad. In the film F. Bondarchuk "Stalingrad" Fountain is included in the composition of the prototypes of objects - department store, theater, Pavlov's house (Presentation of Gromov's House) and the Fight Square. In reality, these objects were in different parts Stalingrad, but on the scenario was near. On December 29, 2013, an explosion at the railway station took place next to the replica of the fountain in Volgograd.

Name fountain

The fountain is an illustration to the poetic fairy tale K. Chukovsky "Barmalei" (1924), in which the cauldron of Barmaleya, at the request of the good doctor Aibolit, swallowed the crocodile: a repentant Bandit Crocodile later released at the request of children.

Replica fountain

In July 2013, work began on the arrangement of the fountain replica on the station square. The author of the sculptural composition - Alexander Burganov, who was a student of the sculptor of the original ...

This is one of the most famous pictures of the Second World War, he is a very accurate symbol of the Stalingrad tragedy. The author of the photo is Emmanuel Evserikhin, it was made on August 23, 1942 on the stationary area of \u200b\u200bStalingrad.

1. 1935. "Sculpture for the fountain"

[...] Ends the design of the fountain on the station square. Yesterday, the installation of sculptures received from Kharkov began. They have to restore them somewhat, because in the way the pieces of individual shapes beat pieces. The most injured pioneer and pioneer. After installing the sculpture will be covered with white oil paint.

2. In August 42th.
Stalingrad was first subjected to a massive air strike from August 23 to 25, 1942 - in a picture behind the sculptural group of six children, driving a dance, see the building of the destroyed and burning station. It is clear why the photo produces such a strong impression: crushed sculptures of children, as not to the end of the destroyed part of the past peaceful life, miraculously survived among the ruins of destroyed and burned buildings. Even big damage to the fountain was received in September 1942 during fierce fights for the station building, which several times passed from hand to hand. As can be seen in the pictures taken after the completion of the fighting, the fountain received additional destruction: the sculptures of children were damaged, one of the sculptures there is no head. The destroyed fountain hit the newspaper and newsreel, in feature films, and in our time - in computer games.


3. After the battle.


The renovated fountain is visible on color photographs of the first post-war physical culture parade in May 1945, by photography: Mark Redkin.

The fountain existed until the 50s, according to the city, was dismantled during the construction of a new station building. A look from the present time it seems the act of frank vandalism, ignorance and misunderstanding of his own history.

4. Long recovery history.
The question of the restoration of the fountain rose from the 60s - at the site of the dismantled fountain there was a flowerbed, then, in the late 80s, she was successfully sunk asphalt, turning into a paid (for a while) car parking. But it is worth remembering the other: professionals - architects and sculptors, oddly enough, have always been against his reconstruction - Novodel will always remain a newly strewn, taken out of the context, without a background from the buried cozers of houses, there will be no whole or artificially destroyed sculpture. And the past objections that "the fountain does not have artistic value" - Nobody canceled them yet: look carefully and unbiased - the pioneers figures are completely disproportionate, the legs are short, and the hands are unnaturally long, and the plot itself borrowed from the children's poem of Kornea Chukovsky ( "Stolen Sun", 1925), about the animals and guys who selected the sun in the crocodile, pre-swallowed it - it is generally out of criticism.

In addition, the famous Stalingrad Fountain was typical - its similar copies were in Voronezh, in the Koltsovsky Square, in Dnepropetrovsk - in the Park named after Chkalov, in Orenburg, now in his place - a monument to Pushkin and Gald and similar - in Omsk, in Omsk Agrarian University.

5. "In Volgograd brought children for" children's rounds ".
On Thursday, August 15, in the morning in Volgograd, the figures were delivered to the sculptural composition of the new fountain "Dancing Children" on the Primilar Square and the Symbolic Monument of the Monument on the territory of the Museum-panorama of the Stalingrad Battle. We will remind, by the authors and performers of this idea were the organizers of the Bike show "Stalingrad", which will be held on 23-24 August. [...] To preserve the valuable cargo from Moscow: six shapes of children-pioneers, one crocodile, lying in the center, and eight frogs located around the perimeter of the fountain bowl, and all this in a double copy [...] during transportation The sculptural ensemble The speed of movement of the wagon did not exceed 50 kilometers per hour, so the car traveled from the capital about forty hours.

V1. rU "News" August 16, 2013. http: // V 1. RU / TEXT / PhotoReport / 690072. HTML? Full \u003d 3.


6. Now the fountains are two at once.

But one of them is not a fountain. Reduced, but the non-working copy is mounted on the territory of the Museum-panorama of the Stalingrad battle, on this version of sculptures have symotic traces of destruction, in general, next to the ruins of the mill, for tourists it may look quite appropriate for tourists.

The second, working Novodel Fountain, is already without damage, it is located on the attribute area of \u200b\u200bthe city (however, not in a historical place) and, purely subjectively, it looks there somehow strange - alas, all this greatly looks at the old writer's bike about the House of Classic Kyrgyz Literature Toktogul Satullganov. It is said that when a house-museum visited one of the Soviet party bons, he was sincerely surprised by poverty, a writer lived in Koya. And ordered to demolish the shack and build a good, two-storey house, corresponding to the status of the Great Akyn.
Opinions on the Internet are also contradictory. I will give one, soft enough: "There is a person in Moscow for a nicknamed surgeon, he is Alexander Zddostanov, best friend president. So, this surgeon wanted to put a fountain in Volgograd, which before the war stood on the stational square in Volgograd. Why do we have? Yes, because in the summer in the city will be a bike show, which, according to rumors, the president will come. Therefore, we decided to make the city of such a present, to which none of the local architects has virtually no relation. The project seems to exist, it is from the chief architect Volgograd, but no one seen him, and no one really knows how it will not look like. Therefore, it will not be more correct here about the reconstruction, but about some landscaping, seasoned by ideology, since it is planned to put only a fountain without affecting everything else. But, on the other hand, if it is still possible to remove this prosecutor's parking lot, located in the middle of the station Square, then only for it should be said to Surigue thanks. "

Hey you, beasts, go out,
Crocodile Win
To greedy crocodile
The sun grows into the sky!

Sources: V.1. ru "News",

In Volgograd, he again earned the famous fountain "Children's Horovod" - a symbol of an unrequitable city. President Vladimir Putin arrived at the opening ceremony. The head of state also talked to veterans and bikers that helped restore the sculptural group.

Against the background of destroyed by Hitler's aircraft, children are dancing around the crocodile. Their six - three boys and three girls - they are tightly holding hands, frogs are sitting around them, of which they beat the water jets. Fountain - Allegory on the fairy tale Korniha Chukovsky "Stolen Sun", so it was called "Children's Horovod", "Crocodile" and even "Barmalei" - became a symbol military history Stalingrad after a photo card, concentrated on the whole world.

This sampled sculptural group was established in the thirties in several cities in several years, but only one fountain was left in memory, imprinted by photographer Emmanuel Evserichin on August 23, 1942, after a massive German bombardment. Then 40 thousand civilians died.

It is curious that after the war, the "Children's Horovod" was already renovated, but stood for a short time: it was dismantled in the 1950s. After the war in the courtyards of the Central District, several small fountains were operating with frogs sitting in a circle, which gradually collapsed by the end of the 1960s.

Before launching the fountain, the audience showed a choreographic performance, the schoolgirl read poems, the veterans said parting words. After them, Vladimir Putin came to the microphone.

"History Great Patriotic War He knows a lot of glorious pages and symbols of our victory. In February of this year, we are here in Volgograd, celebrated the 70th anniversary of the victory near Stalingrad. In July of this year, they recalled the tank battle under Prokhorovka. Today, the country celebrates the 70th anniversary of the final defeat of the Nazis on the Kursk Arc. Each of these cities and towns has become a kind of symbol of our victory. But in each of them there were their small characters, "the president said.

One of them in the pre-war Stalingrad was a "Children's Horovod" fountain. "He symbolized joy, life, carefree childhood. But it was precisely this sculptural composition that was also destined to become another symbol," said the head of state.

The first massive aviation raid on the city of Nazis was made on August 23, 1942. The world flew out a photograph of a sculptural group of dancing children against the background of the blazing ruins of Stalingrad as a symbol of the barbarism of the Nazis and the selfless courage of the defenders of the city.

"The enemy tried to seize the city with the go, but I encountered the unprecedented courage and the heroism of his defenders. He did not see this anywhere and never. And the confused, the shot city did not only live and struggled - he survived and won," the president emphasized.


120 thousand spectators expected organizers of the International Patriotic Bike Show. Photo: ITAR-TASS

Thanking all who returned this city with this symbol, Vladimir Putin promised: "We will always be looking at this monument, to this sculptural group, remember both living, and fallen, remember who we are obliged to this victory. We will always think about That truth is always higher than hate, enmity and barbarism. Low bow to veterans! ".

As soon as the fountain earned, a pilot group "Russian Vityazi" appeared in the sky - in proof that the tragedy of Stalingrad will never happen again. Five fighters made in the Volgograd Sky "Dead Loop". According to the organizers, it should have symbolizing the fact that the Russian sky is now and forever "on the castle."

After the ceremony, the head of the state talked with the front-line: carefully listened to everyone, promised to help those who asked about it, and photographed with them. Many of them have already met the president earlier and reminded him of it. One of the guests invited to the ceremony said that during the previous meeting invited Putin more often to come to Volgograd. "You promised and fulfilled your promise. Thank you very much!" She said and presented to the head of the state to the state with the symbols of the city.

Another participant in the Stalingrad battle asked to help solve problems with elevators. "Now the representative of the administration will be suitable for you, talks," said the president.

Another woman appealed to the leader of the Biker movement: "Health to you, thank you for paying such attention to our city Stalingrad." One of the veterans was just a birthday: Putin gave him a clock.

Next to the veterans at the ceremony did not accidentally be bikers. Restore Fountain offered their leader Surgeon (Alexander Zadostanov), heading the motoclub "Night Wolves". He helped come to Volgograd and Frontovikov from Sevastopol. The surgeon has repeatedly participated both in the official and informal events of the president, in March received from the hands of the head of the state the Order of Honor for active work on patriotic education youth, participation in the search work and the perpetuation of the memory of the dead defenders of the Fatherland. Vladimir Putin also met with "night wolves" and came to their bike show.

A copy of the fountain made a sculptor Alexander Burganov - a student of the author of the original fountain Romualda Iodo. The sculptural group was recreated in the pre-war lay from the railway station. "Accurate copy!" - assured journalists Surgeon. The reduced version of the fountain is now located next to the panorama of the Stalingrad battle - already with traces from the bombing. This is another gift to the city.

In the evening of the same day, "Night Wolves" held an international bike show in Volgograd. True, this time the head of state has not remained.

Fountain "Dancing Children" symbolized joy, life, carefree childhood, but it was this sculptural composition that was destined to become another symbol. On August 23, 1942, the Nazis performed the first massive ruthless aviation raid on Stalingrad. Whole residential neighborhoods, kindergartens, schools, hospitals were destroyed. It was then that the world flew out a photo of this sculptural group of dancing children against the background of the flaming ruins of Stalingrad. It was then that it became a symbol of the barbarism of the Nazis and the selfless courage and the heroism of the defenders of the city. The enemy tried to seize the city, but faced with the unprecedented courage and the heroism of his defenders. He did not see this anywhere and never. And the confused, the shot city not only lived and fought, but he survived and won.

Stalingrad Fountain "Children's Horovodel" (many call it differently: "Crocodile", "Children", "Dancing Children", even "Barmalei" - at the fountain at that time there was no "official" title) appeared during the improvement of the station Square The date of creation of the fountain is considered to be in 1930. The author of the sculptural group is the Soviet sculptor Romuald Romaldovich Iodko. The fountain was typical for pre-war time, similar fountains were installed in different cities of the USSR - Voronezh, Dnepropetrovsk, Orenburg. "Children's Horovodel" was made of concrete, like many sculptures of that time, he was leaving him every year.




The fountain became widely known for the personnel of the military chronicle, made by the front correspondent Emmanuil Nuevich Evserichin after the Luftwaffe airline on August 23, 1942 (in the background - the burning Stalingrad station). The photo was called: "August 23, 1942. After the massive nourge of Hitler's aviation. " Thanks to this photo, having flown around the whole world, the fountain became one of the recognizable characters of Stalingrad, Stalingrad battle.
As can be seen in the picture, on August 23, "Children's Horror" suffered not much, the figures of children were only sepped.




Much great damage to the fountain received during the September fighting for the railway station, which several times passed from hand to hand. By the end of the Stalingrad battle, the fountain was a crying spectacle: the figures of the children were injured very much, each had no separate parts.


The fountain was restored immediately after the end of the Stalingrad battle - snow-white children against the background of the ruins of the city can be seen already at the photos of Robert Kaps August 1943; The symbol of the revival of Stalingrad. Snow-white figures and lively dancing on the background of post-war ruins, children have become in the photos of the first post-war physical culture parade of 1945 Mark Redkin.


True, the figure figures were restored local residents, among which there were no professional sculptors at that time, therefore, the quality of work was left to desire the best. It is possible that this has become an additional reason that a fountain that has no artistic value has been dismantled in the 50s during the construction of the new building of Stalingrad Station.
As the years of the Great Patriotic War left later in the past, everything became more clearly understood that the "children's dance" is one of the most recognizable characters of the Battle of the Battle of Stalingrad, both in our country and abroad. Therefore, plans to restore the legendary fountain on his historical place began to arise. The plans were destined to be embodied in reality only in 2013, largely due to the head of the Bike Club "Night Wolves" Alexander Sergeevich Zaldostanov "Surigue". The recreated "Children's Horovod" was solemnly opened on August 23, 2013 during the XVIII Bike show Stalingrad in the presence of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's president of Russia.






"I am very joying that the monument was restored at his historical place. We will always be, looking at him, to remember this sculptural group to remember both living and fallen. To remember who we are obliged to this victory. We will always think about that the truth is always higher than hate, enmity, barbarism. Low bow veterans. "
/ B.V. Putin/