The Cold War in Hungary – Military Collections, Leftovers & More

Many traces of the communist dictatorship can be found in today’s modern and thriving Hungary. The most visited ones, like Memento Park or Terror Haza in capital city Budapest, tell about the inhumane and pervasive aspect of propaganda and political repression. However, the history of this country in the second half of the 20th century is closely bound to the Soviet-backed communist seizure of power, and this has left traces also elsewhere, especially in terms of military leftovers. As a matter of fact, the Soviet Red Army was directly present in Hungary, to keep the status quo and to to be closer to the border with the West in case of an attack – and this of course left traces.

You can find a significant deal of material concerning more urbex-connected destinations in Hungary in another post.

In this one, you will find a mainly pictorial portrait of some of the best known attractions related to the Cold War period in Hungary, as well as some well accessible but less known ones, especially considering the general public visiting from abroad. As usual on this website, a good share of these sites is aviation-themed!

Photographs were taken in August 2020.

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Sights

Iron Curtain Museum, Felsocsatar

The Iron Curtain Museum has been created soon after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989 on the sight of a former small sector of the state border between communist Hungary and free Austria.

The site is mainly the result of the effort of a man, Sandor Gojak, a former border guard in the 1960s, who dedicated this permanent exhibition to those who attempted escaping the repressive communist regime in Hungary towards Austria and the West – both those who succeeded and those who did not, hence facing arrest or losing their lives due to the minefields prepared along the border line.

The site features three examples of the border line placed in the area over the years. They are look less impenetrable than those created between Eastern and Western Germany (see this post), yet they were similarly deadly in scope and facts.

The first is basically a simple line of barbed wire with wooden poles, and it was put in place soon after WWII. Mines were placed in close vicinity to the line. After wooden poles started to rot around the mid-1950s, mines were removed, a dangerous job which cost the health of some border guards, who were severely injured due to accidental explosions.

For a short while at that time, the border was free of mines, and about 300’000 people managed to leave the ‘paradise of workers’!

Soon after the anti-communist uprising in 1956, suffocated with violence by the Soviets, the border was further fortified with concrete poles, and the mine strip was increased in width.

Only at the end of the 1960s the mines were removed, after multiple accidents involving Austrian citizens, when the mines slipped into a creek near the border due to a flood, injuring many who touched them incautiously. This time the border security system was strongly potentiated, with the adoption of an electrified system for the immediate detection of proximity, linked to signal collection centers dislocated along the line. This system had been implemented by the USSR on the Pakistani border. Something similar can be found also on the border between Czechoslovakia and West Germany (see here).

The exhibition is completed by an example of a wooden turret, as well as a more modern fence – a specimen of the one put in place in 2015 between today’s Hungary and neighbor Serbia and Croatia, when a wave of migrants from the Middle East swept the Balkans.

The museum is full of vivid testimonies, thanks to the many historical pictures and artifacts on display, and to the fact that the founder is actually the man who runs the museum! – he is totally available to answer your questions.

Getting there and visiting

The museum can be reached here: 47.20376801287036, 16.429799972912328, on the border between Hungary and Austria, not far from Szombathely. The coordinates point to a convenient parking. The site is operated as an open-air museum, with opening times and an entrance fee. Moderate climbing is required, as the museum area is on the slope of a nice hill. Only cash accepted. Visiting may take about 45 minutes. Website here.

Military Park, Zanka

This small military park is a nice and cared for exhibition of Soviet-made weapons, located ahead of a resort which used to be an exclusive destination for vacation on the coast of Lake Balaton.

You can find here a couple of Mil helicopters – including the legendary Mil-24 in all its ‘beauty’! – in the colors of the Hungarian Air Force.

There is a MiG-21, also formerly of the Hungarian Air Force, a T-64 tank, a howitzer, a military snow blower, an amphibious truck and more light trailers.

Perhaps the most striking sight in this collection is the surface-to-air missile (SAM) SA-2, aka S-75 Dvina in the Soviet codification. A rather basic but powerful – and successful – missile from the 1950s, sold by the Soviets to many satellite Countries and clients over the world.

A revolving antenna can be seen on top of a truck. This is an example of the target acquisition antenna for the SA-2 system, code-named Spoon Rest by NATO, and known as P18 in Soviet codification. This radar system had a range of approximately 170 miles, and was an improvement of the previous P12 design. The launch site of SA-2 SAMs was always complemented by a set of antennas, including a Spoon Rest system. Actually, P18 could be coupled with the launch system of more advanced SAMs too.

All items in the collection here are pretty well preserved, making the visit an enjoyable stop along the exploration of the Balaton coastline.

Getting there and moving around

The park can be found here: 46.881838498667996, 17.7098619193198. The site can be visited in 10-30 minutes depending on your level of interest. This is an open-air museum, with ticket and opening times. Website (referral) with some information here.

Komarom Monostor Fort & Soviet Weapons Collection

An incredible, perfectly preserved military fort from the years of the Austrian Empire, Monostor Fort in Komarom can be found on the Danube, marking the border with Slovakia. At the time of construction, the two nations were united in the Austrian Empire, and the fort was erected between 1850-71 as a part of a defense line extending also north in today’s Slovakia.

Despite being extremely interesting for its articulated and complex construction – a brilliant example of military engineering from the time – the fort saw no action in its intended purpose. It was used for training for most of its life, then briefly as a prisoner’s camp in the years of Hitler’s administration, and finally as an immense weapons storage during the Cold War years, when it saw tenancy by the Soviets.

Today, the fort is open as a museum, duly centered on the interesting original construction from the 19th century.

One cellar has been left as it was in Soviet times, when weapons of all sorts were stored here, moved by means of a dedicated short-gauge railway.

In a corner of the immense apron, you can find a small collection of Soviet weapons, mainly anti-tank and anti-aircraft cannons. There are also a couple of truck-transported antennas, including a very effective early warning Flat Face radar, aka P19 Danube according to the soviet classification, as well as a PRW-9 Thin Skin target altitude detection radar. Similar platforms are still in use today, and can be coupled with modern SAM launching systems.

Getting there and moving around

The fort is a major attraction in the area. It features a large parking ahead of the entrance, address: 2900 Komárom Duna-part 1. Visiting is on a self-guided basis, with a short paper guide in English distributed at the entrance, and the visit will be extremely interesting for anybody interested in history, military engineering, etc. – not only Cold-War-minded subjects.

Visiting may take 1.5 hours, due to the size of the fort. The place is also used as a venue for theater performances and concerts, so timetables may vary. Some info in English can be found on this website.

Papa Airbase

Papa is today an active base of the Air Force, hence it cannot be accessed. However, with a short adventure drive along an unpaved road, you may reach a part of the former premises of the base – from Soviet times – now lying outside the perimeter.

There you can find a pretty unique array of old abandoned aircraft of Soviet make, in the colors of the Hungarian Air Force.

They are MiG-21 of many types, and also massive Sukhoi Su-22.

The state of conservation is not so bad – you can find airframes in worse condition in some museums – but some aircraft are missing some parts, possibly due to spare recycling, or vandalism, even though the place is really secluded, and the proximity with privately owned land and a military base is not ideal for vandals and idiot spoilers.

Of course, a few more years without any attention to these birds and little will remain of this improvised fleet. Hopefully, at least a share of this mighty force will find a due place in some museum or collection over the next years.

By the way, the former military area where these planes are sitting was perhaps a place for SAMs, put for protection of the base in the Cold War years.

Getting there and moving around

This is the only item on this post which is not a museum. It’s hard to tell whether these aircraft are lying on private land or not. However, to reach this strange flock of aircraft, you can move with a standard city car to this crossroads: 47.33966571405878, 17.550239693088113.

From here, you need to take north, until you reach this other waypoint: 47.35812676567956, 17.530436267329513. At some point along this path, the road turns unpaved, but the condition is generally manageable. On the latter waypoint you need to turn sharp left. You may notice old concrete posts, from the original soviet fence of the base.

You will finally land here: 47.35812676567956, 17.530436267329513, where you find an asphalted road, in the middle of a former peripheral area of the base. Driving towards the base along this road, you will find the aircraft here: 47.3541655146187, 17.514827811942904.

Visiting is not a long business, cause you should not move around the aircraft, as they are likely on the border of a private lot (fenced). Totally recommended for Cold War aircraft enthusiasts however.

Komo-Sky 51 Air Museum, Dunavarsany

This wonderful military exhibition is the based on the collection of a Hungarian military pilot, Zoltán Néhai Komócsi, nicknamed ‘Komo’, from which came the name of the museum. Unfortunately, the man passed away years ago in a crash. The collection was publicly put on display only more recently.

Items on display include military aircraft and helicopters, military trucks, trucks from the firefighting squad, engines, and more! Some of the exhibit can be boarded, and reportedly some vehicles are still operative.

Most of the exhibits are in very good condition, a few are still awaiting light refurbishment. An old Mil-2 helicopter can be boarded, revealing an old-fashioned cockpit, made more exotic by the Russian inscriptions.

Also an attack Mil-8 helicopter in Hungarian colors can be checked inside. A Mil-24 is undergoing restoration (as of 2020).

The ‘MiG alley’ includes MiG-15, 21 – in various versions – and 23, all in very good condition, refurbished for display.

Also some trucks can be boarded, revealing once more the excellent state of preservation, as well as abundant Russian signs.

To the far end of the collection, an Antonov An-2 utility biplane, an ubiquitous workhorse of the Soviet empire, can be boarded up to the cockpit.

You can sit in the pilot’s seat, getting a nice view from the cockpit of this bird.

Three deployable radar antennas can be seen on their trailers – apparently a not complete P80 Back Net system from the 1960s is the largest one.

Finally, a MiG-21 in the colors of the Hungarian national flag can be boarded. This is extremely interesting, as it provides a look in the cockpit of this high-performance and successful fighter/interceptor from the Cold War years, when ‘high-performance’ implied ‘high-complexity’ analog cockpits!

Getting there and moving around

The museum can be found at these coordinates, 47.292057190313706, 19.029565655926707, corresponding to a convenient parking. The site is about 30 minutes driving south of central Budapest. It is an open-air museum, with timetables and ticket. Information on their website (in Hungarian). Time required for visiting may range between 30 minutes to 1.5 hours for an interested subject, taking all the pictures.

Komo-Sky Bunker, Dunavarsany

A recent addition by the current managers of the Komo-Sky 51 Air Museum is this fully refurbished Soviet bunker, once used for air traffic control. The place is actually in the vicinity of the former Soviet airbase of Tokol, one of the largest in Hungary in its heyday (see this post).

Today the bunker has been partly restored in look, with some rooms changed into ambiances for interactive experiences, including shooting!

Some rooms host interesting collections of artifacts from the everyday life of communist Hungary.

Military memorabilia from the Red Army, with conspicuous Russian writings, are scattered everywhere.

A room of special interest hosts a collection of militaria from the Eastern Bloc, with artifacts ranging from weapons to flight suits, military decorations to aircraft parts. Really something for everybody!

Getting there and moving around

The bunker is a recent (as of 2020) addition to the Komo-Sky 51 Air Museum. No dedicated website available at the time of writing. The place can be reached at the coordinates 47.297663350792774, 19.0351554512774, about 3 minutes driving north of the Air Museum. I visited by invitation of the owner, hence I don’t know about the actual timetable. A website of a hotel nearby – actually on the very same lot of the bunker – is here, with some information on the bunker in Hungarian.

Museum of Military History, House of Terror, Memento Park, Houses of Parliament – Budapest

Budapest is rightly famous for a history spanning many centuries, for its art collections, incredible architectures, thermal baths and many other enjoyable features. However, having been the capital of a communist country in the Eastern Bloc, it also hosted a ‘state security service’, i.e. an agency of the government attempting to control the minds of Hungarian citizens, and keeping everybody’s behavior under strict surveillance. The palace chosen as the seat for this service is named ‘House of Terror’ (‘Terror Haza’ in the local idiom). Here many were kept under arrest, interrogated, and in some instances secretly murdered in the basement.

The place is among the most visited museums in Hungary, and can be found right in the city center. Comprehensibly, no photo is allowed in the most sensitive areas of this sad building. Website here.

Another place of Cold War interest, making for a rather popular touristic attraction, is Memento Park. In this small park about 15 minutes driving south of the city center most of the statues and monuments once adorning the capital’s downtown have been collected and put on display.

Some from older times, celebrating the friendship of the Soviet and Hungarian peoples, are unbearably rhetoric.

Others are more artistically interesting, in the context of official artistic currents authorized by the Communist Party.

Lenin is of course a favorite subject.

By the entrance, Marx, Engels and Lenin are kind of ‘gate guardians’.

In front of the entrance, you can find a reproduction of the base of a statue of Stalin put in place at some point and surviving in pictures, and later dismantled after the death of Stalin. In the basement of the same construction, you can find a weird set of official busts of Lenin and Stalin, as well as a once popular image of Lenin as a child.

Close by, a small deposit of statues still waiting to be put on display can be found. Website here.

A less visited museum covering the military history of Hungary over the ages, but especially the 19th and 20th centuries, can be found right in the old district of Buda. The display is rather classical and didactic, but for more military-minded people, or those interested in the recent history of Hungary, it is for sure worth a stop when visiting uptown. Website here.

Finally, in the gorgeous building of the Houses of Parliament, you can find interesting info about the changes implemented to the architecture of the building during the communist period.

A unique artifact is the big red star once standing on top of the building, emulating the famous ruby stars placed on top of the towers of the Kremlin in Moscow. Website here.

Secrets of a Soviet Airbase, Berekfurdo

This museum is located in the small town of Berekfurdo, in the eastern region of Hungary, just a few minutes from the former airbase of Kunmadaras, which used to be operated by the Soviets in the Cold War era (see this post for the nuclear storage bunker to be found there).

Unfortunately, I could not visit the museum – it is open only rarely, on a very limited timetable. However, in the courtyard you can easily spot a Mil-24 attack helicopter, as well as a MiG-21. Both have been vividly and freshly refurbished – ready for take-off!

Getting there and moving around

The website of the museum provides good information, and the folks there appear pretty reactive in case you are writing to get more info. It is really a pity they have a timetable so limited. The place can be reached at these coordinates: 47.38366735314769, 20.84155882970934. The museum is made of a small hangar and an outside apron. Considering the size, I guess visiting might take about 1 hour.

RepTar Szolnok Aviation Museum, Szolnok

This is probably the ‘official’ aviation museum in Hungary, at least concerning the military field. It is clearly a well-financed endeavor, with a remarkable collection of aircraft from various ages, helicopters, engines and missiles. Most of the aircraft are preserved outside in an open-air exhibition, the oldest ones having found a place inside a modern and well-designed building. Everything on display has been recently refurbished, hence the collection looks fresh and well cared for.

Two aircraft will likely capture your attention in the main hall, namely a Spitfire in the colors of a Polish squadron fighting with the RAF, facing a Bf 109 in German Luftwaffe colors. The two opponents are displayed besides one another, allowing also for a configuration and size comparison.

Not far is the wreck of an Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, built in huge numbers by the USSR over the years of the Great Patriotic War.

Interesting specimens in the inside hangar include a Messerschmitt Me-108 trainer, some Soviet trainers, classic Kamov and Mil helicopters.

A Soviet H-29L semi-active laser homing air-to-ground missile for the Sukhoi Su-22, which the Hungarian Air Force owned and operated, is on display.

A very interesting old analog approach simulator is also presented. It is made of a cabin mock-up and a large model of an airport, with cameras mounted on moving trolleys, likely projecting a magnified image of the ‘terrain’ in the cabin.

You can board a MiG-21, and see the mysterious content of the noses of some fighter aircraft – typically radar antennas of various levels of sophistication.

An array of engines, from WWII up to our days, are on display on the first floor.

Outside you can find a sample list of virtually all popular MiG models, from MiG-15 to MiG-29.

A colorful example of a MiG-21 will sure capture your eye, similarly to a set of Mil-24 attack helicopters, wrapped in incredible liveries!

A MiG-21 has been placed in an enclave resembling an aircraft shelter, an example of the care adopted in designing this top-tier museum. An SA-2 Guideline is on display by the entrance, visible also from the parking.

To the far end of the external apron, you can find a ‘MiG alley’ with several fighters from that design bureau. Also there is a massive Sukhoi Su-22, and two Lockheed F-104 Starfighter – from Turkey and Germany respectively.

The SAM part is rather interesting. You can see at least two SA-2 (aka S-75 Dvina, according to Soviet nomenclature), on trolleys or on the launch pad, with a distinctive flame deflector.

A P37 Bar Lock early warning and target acquisition radar has been put on top of a mound. This type of radar constituted the first line of border defense of many countries of the Eastern Bloc, against intrusion from the West. It featured a range of approximately 250 miles.

Another radar antenna is the P15 Flat Face low-altitude target acquisition radar. With a range of about 75 miles, this scanner operated typically with the SA-3 Goa anti-aircraft system (aka S-125 Pechora in Soviet nomenclature).

The latter is on display on a movable launcher as well as on a four missile rack, prominently placed on top of a rampart, somehow resembling its typical launching position. A battery of more missiles on the same launching rack is typical of this highly successful missile, sold to many Countries, and easier to operate than its older cousin, the SA-2.

Inside another smaller hangar – apparently a former railway depot – you can find the console for the control of the SA-2 system, together with another example of this SAM.

Getting there and moving around

Really an unmissable sight for aviation enthusiasts, military-minded people or the whole family as well! This very nice collection can be found in Szolnok. Address: Szolnok, Indóház u. 4-6, 5000 Hungary. Large parking ahead, restaurant and gift shop. Website here. You may easily spend a whole morning here, but if you are in a hurry, you can have a quick look in about 1 hour.

Emlekpont, Hódmezővásárhely

A rather unusual collection of soviet ‘authorized’ art can be found in this recently renovated building, which also hosts temporary exhibitions. The central part of the display is basically a single room on two floors, with paintings from the Cold War era.

A huge statue of a Soviet soldier takes the full height of the room! Some paintings refer to the 1956 uprising, clearly on the side of the rebels, hence they might be from a post-1989 time.

Surely worth a stop for those with an interest in Soviet art, like you can find only in Tretjakowsky Gallery in Moscow!

Getting there and moving around

This little museum can be found in Hódmezővásárhely, Andrássy út 34, 6800 Hungary, a few minutes driving from university town Szeged, close to the border with Serbia and Romania. Visiting may take about 30 minutes, more if you know Hungarian. Website here.

Pinter Works Military Park, Kecel

A one-of-a-kind exhibition, this place is hidden deep in the countryside between Balaton and the Serbian border, but it is really worth a detour for anybody interested in Soviet weapons from the Cold War era. It is likely one of the largest displays of heavy military gear you may find in Europe!

The sample list covers anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns, field artillery, self-propelled cannons and tanks.

But you also get special function trucks, moving bridges, transport, trailers, portable radar equipment.

Also SAMs are represented, including the SA-2 Guideline (S-75 Dvina), SA-4 Ganef (2K11 Krug) and the more conspicuous SA-5 Gammon (S-200 Vega). Some of the SAMs feature also transport cartridges on purpose-assembled trucks – some of them on tracks! – which are displayed side by side with field rocket launchers.

The huge Square Pair radar, used in conjunction with the modern SA-5 Gammon, makes for a really rare and impressive sight – it is tall like a multi-storey building, but it is on a trailer, implying it can be moved. There are two on display!

Also rather rare is the ST-68U Tin Shield early warning border patrolling radar, still in use today, with its movable trailer.

Even SCUDs surface-to-surface theater missiles can be found. One is located on board its movable launch-pad, similar to what you can see in Bucharest (see here).

Some of the trailers are open, so you can get a view of the inside – with all equipment apparently in place, including radar scopes and huge consoles, resembling an old-fashioned science fiction!

Finally, a series of fighter aircraft, including several MiG and Sukhoi models, are on display.

Curiously enough, a SAAB 35 Draken from Sweden found its way to here, whereas a T-72 and a T-34 make for gate guardians, together with an Antonov An-24.

Finally, what looks like a monster-size ballistic missile encapsulated in a canister completes the show…

All in all, as said this is really an impressive collection, both as an ensemble, and for some of the pieces in it. The origin of the collection is rather mysterious – nobody spoke anything except Hungarian there, but if I got it right through much gesticulation, the place is owned by somebody residing in Dallas area, TX. The military park sits in the premises of a metal-recycling company, so maybe there is some connection between the two, even though it does not look like they are fueling recycling with the items on display. Actually, the military park is well maintained and presented as a very nice open-air museum.

Getting there and moving around

The museum is located at the address Kecel, Rákóczi Ferenc u. 177, 6237 Hungary. The website is here, with accurate visiting info. Please note they accept only cash. Visiting may easily take 2 hours for an interested subject, taking all the pictures. For a quick overview, you may spend 30-40 minutes on site.

Taszar Airbase Museum, Taszar

Another unique museum, somewhat far from the major touristic paths in Hungary, can be found on the premises of the currently (as of 2020) inactive military airbase of Taszar, in southwest Hungary. This airbase was operated by the Hungarian Air Force over the years of the Cold War, with training and fighter units flying MiGs of many sorts over the years. Curiously, the base was lent to the US in the 1990s, and was used for attacks over Serbia and more support functions during the Balkan crisis in the late 1990s, and up to the early 2000s. After the American troops left, the base was shut down, and is now waiting for a novel use.

The museum is located in the building of the US chapel, itself in the middle of the now deserted living area of the base.

This museum is the display of a collection of artifacts, put together over many years by a former officer of the Hungarian Air Force, Sandor Kontsagh, who is the owner and who personally runs the place – you are likely to meet him, if you are going to pay a visit! An extremely kind and knowledgeable person, more than available to spend his time showing his collection in detail.

The most massive items on display include several aircraft parts, ranging from canopies, to entire cockpit panels, to parts of the innermost plants onboard Soviet-made fighters, including their electronics. What multiplies the value of this assortment is the fact that every single piece has its own history, as you will be told by Mr. Kontsagh.

The original survival kit from an early MiG, similar to a soviet flight suit from the 1950s, are among the many invaluable collection items.

Also the machine guns and cannon of a MiG-15 can be found – compare the size to the cap of my wide lens!

The panel of a MiG-15 has been refurbished, linking it to electric power to light the electro-optical gunsight – hi-tec from the early Cold War.

Photography is of special relevance to the owner of the museum – he was tasked with technical photography functions during his career, and he has a real thing for this activity. Cameras usually mounted on the gunsight of fighter jets are part of the collection – for the first time, I could carefully look inside what always appears as a bulky black box impeding the pilot’s view on most aircraft from the Cold War period!

Some of the cameras are accompanied by the their original technical registry, showing annotations from the 1950s – incredible.

Of special interest are also the cathode ray tubes to be found for instance on MiG-21. You would not suspect they are so long, looking at their flat appearance, besides other goggles on the panel of that fighter.

Interesting historical pictures are many. Among them, some are from decoy aircraft – inflatables – to fool enemy analysts watching satellite pictures taken above military bases. Others are from visits of president Clinton and princess Diana to Taszar. You can also find an aerial view of the base from Cold War times.

In an adjoining room you can find a collection of radio equipment, with very interesting pieces made in the USSR. These include an original wire recorder.

Maps, trophies and models complete this room, together with a unique collection of cameras, from different countries and makes.

Another room hosts mainly uniforms – including the one belonging to Mr. Kontsagh – and flight suits. Also arresting parachute canister of a MiG-21 is on display.

A corner of the main hall is dedicated to memorabilia from the US tenancy period. These include original uniforms, pictures, papers and even meals, proudly prepared in SC for American troops. By comparison, Hungarian packed meals, also on display, are much heavier!

More memorabilia include training progress registries from pilot’s training – in Russian – as well as textbooks from the training group operating on the base.

All in all, I would say this museum alone is a good reason for a trip to this area!

On the outside, you find yourself in the setting of the old Taszar base, with some gate guardians of Soviet make, and an incredible mural on what was likely an academy building.

Access to the airport is interdicted, as the base is inactive but not abandoned.

Getting there and moving around

When I visited in August 2020, the place was not even pinpointed on Google Maps, but later things have rapidly changed, so you can spot this as an attraction on Google Maps to the west of the airport in Taszar (‘Katonai repulo muzeum’ is the name you find). However, here are the coordinates 46.377887110631455, 17.89899149846632, which take you to a former living area of Taszar airbase, where you can enter with your car. The place is not abandoned, even though most buildings are now unused. The aura is a bit strange, for you have the sensation of intruding into a governmental property – but soon you realize this part of the base is not any more off-limits.

When I visited there was no info about opening timetables whatsoever available in advance, so we just popped up there, finding a closed door with a telephone number. We called and the man – Mr. Kontsagh – told us to wait a few minutes, and came in by foot, opening the place just for us.

I attach the phone number, in case you want to call in advance.

There is no website as of 2020, but the place is totally worth the effort of planning a visit anyway! You might spend a time ranging from 30 minutes to some hours, especially if you are interested in the topic of the museum, or you are simply into military aviation with a technical mind, and also have questions for the knowledgeable owner, who will answer in detail. In case you don’t know Hungarian, understanding a little German and a technical preparation will allow you to take much out of your visit (little English spoken, unfortunately, but this is not strange in this part of the world).

The Red Army in Hungary – Airbases, Bunkers and Ghost Towns

Similar to other satellite countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia and the former German Democratic Republic, for decades after WWII Hungary was under the strong influence and de facto military control of the Soviet Union. As a result of the anti-communist revolution of 1956, when the Soviet nearly lost control of the country for a while, a massive Soviet force was stationed in Hungary to prevent further turmoil – the so-called Southern Group of Forces – acting in parallel with the local Hungarian Army, although in a coordinated fashion.

This was reflected by the turning of several existing airfields and training grounds from older times into modern Soviet bases. Their premises, and the territories around them, were completely severed from the rest of the Country, leaving the Soviet forces with a great freedom of action concerning the deployment of unspecified numbers of troops, tanks, aircraft, communication gear, and even nuclear warheads. Furthermore, the families of the Soviet troops stationed in the Country were hosted in dedicated purpose built – or purpose converted, pre-existing – villages.

All this left traces of course, and after the end of communism in Europe, and later the collapse of the USSR, the majority of these installations were either abandoned or converted to some other use. Abandoned – i.e. not converted – Soviet bases and installations in Hungary were pretty many. Today, many of them are being demolished, or are still standing, but severely damaged after years of disrepair. Actually, the best preserved installations are those waiting for conversion or for some yet-to-be-defined destiny, and currently under custody of private owners or the state.

This post is about some of these installations, and it focuses especially – but not exclusively – on storage bunkers for nuclear warheads. Besides being especially appealing to mystery-hunters and urbex explorers, such places are an interesting testimony of the serious attitude of the Soviets towards a war in the European theater. This was considered a likely event in many instances over the decades of the Cold War, from the 1950s to the years of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative. The money spent over the years by the Soviet Union to build up a dedicated military infrastructure, and the deployment of tactical warheads close to the designated targets in western Europe to prepare for such scenario, show that the USSR did not think of fighting a nuclear-based final battle just as a mere theoretical exercise.

Photographs were taken in August 2020.

Sights

Based on a CIA report dating from 1979 (‘Warsaw Pact Forces Opposite NATO’, Vol.I-II, CREST record number 0005517771, declassified and released in 2010, check it out here), there used to be a small yet significant number of bunkers for the storage of the Soviet nuclear stockpile in Hungary. The following map, taken from this report, shows their approximate location and type.

Despite a clear correspondence of each symbol with a Soviet bunker construction type is not readily available, it is possible to reconstruct the information as follows.

The only solid triangle corresponds to a Monolith-type storage bunker, the largest and most sophisticated type of storage in the Soviet standard inventory, made for long-term storage of nuclear warheads. This site is located close to the village of Urkut, in the middle of an extended region, once the largest part of Hungary managed exclusively by the Soviet military. In this area you can find also the headquarters of the Soviet forces in Hungary, the Southern Group of Forces, located in the small village of Hajmasker, as well as the airbase of Veszprem, with an annexed village with housing for military staff and their families.

Monolith-type bunkers were seldom built on the premises of airbases or other military bases. They were prepared mostly in secluded area, shrouded in the vegetation, so as to avoid any unwanted attention as much as possible. They would store high-yield warheads for theater missiles (e.g. SCUD missiles). Urkut is no exception, as there are no airfields close to it. It is shrouded in the vegetation, and far from any village of significant size.

Back to the map, round dots represent Basalt-type storage bunkers, which are most commonly to be found close to airfields. This type of bunker is significantly large, and capable to store air-dropped/launched tactical weapons with nuclear warheads. Two sites are shown on the map, of which only the one on the premises of the former airbase of Kunmadaras could be located.

Finally, the squares correspond to Granit-type storage bunkers. These were of much lighter construction with respect to Monolith and Bazalt, and their purpose could be that of hiding either missile launchers of various size, or command/communication posts. Much has to be guessed about the actual function they had in all places where they were built. In Hungary, three such bunkers are reported on the map, of which the easternmost is on the still active airport of Debrecen, the westernmost is on the small local airport of Heviz (formerly Sarmellek), and the latter is presumably on Tokol, a major airbase in the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary capital city.

In the following you can find some pictures from the storage sites of Urkut, Kunmadaras and Sarmellek, plus pictures from the Soviet bases of Veszprem, Tokol and Kalocsa, and from the former Soviet headquarters in Hajmasker.

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Urkut Monolith-Type Nuclear Storage Site

The Urkut site is also familiarly known as ‘little Moscow’, due to the fact that this site hosted also a very small, perfectly Soviet-style quarter for the troops working on the base, or being trained in the local training center. The site is in a wide and pleasant valley with a north-south alignment. There used to be two access roads which today take from the main (and only) road running along the mostly uninhabited valley, connecting Urkut (to the north) and Nagyvazsony (to the south). The two access roads take you to the main gates, placed to the north and south ends of the complex.

Similar to other nuclear sites based on the Monolith-type bunker model (see for instance this post for an accurate pictorial description of another one), security was clearly a major concern. Still today, walking in the trees and approaching the base without going the official access roads, you will meet four external fences.

The outer one is made of concrete posts and barbed wire, but today this is mostly gone – which makes it practically more dangerous, as the few remnants of suspended barbed wire are barely visible, and much leftovers are partly hidden by the abundant low-growing vegetation.

Next you will come to a concrete wall made of prefabricated slabs, with traces of barbed wire on top. This is still today basically impenetrable.

Once in, you will find two further lines of barbed wire, suspended on concrete posts. This double fence of barbed wire is still in very good shape, and creates a watch corridor.

Inside the perimeter, you can spot a network of trenches and foxholes.

In Urkut, the training grounds and bunkers are close to the northern gate, whereas to the south you can find the former living quarters for the troops. A prominent training hangar can be found in the northern part of the base.

Inside, a perfectly conserved mural with the heads of Marx, Engels and Lenin, and Moscow’s Kremlin in the background, is still hanging on top of the main gate.

Along the hangar, a corridor with classrooms clearly shows the intended function of the building.

Not far north from this major attraction, you soon meet a smaller technical building, and the southern Monolith bunker close by. Bases centered on the Monolith type typically had two independent twin bunkers built onsite, usually with their axes tilted by 90 degrees, so as to minimize the chance of a single bomb effectively striking both bunkers. This is not the case in Urkut though, as both bunkers are built along an East-West direction. Urkut is different from other Monolith sites also for having been built on the slope of a hill, so connection roads are never flat.

The warheads reached the bunker by truck. A covered loading/unloading platform can be found on both opposite entrances to the bunker. For the southern bunker, you can see in the pictures the platform is still in very good conditions, with colored signs on the pavement for facilitating movements. Even the lamps are still there!

The main access to the bunker was via an airlock, with two gigantic square-shaped blast-proof doors on each side. In this pictures you are seeing the western access to the southern bunker.

The innermost part of the Urkut bunkers is inaccessible, as the inner doors of the airlocks are shut. Yet it is possible to get access to the airlocks. For the southern bunker, going to the eastern access you find a covered platform similar to the western one, yet here the roof has partly collapsed.

You may open the outer door of the airlock, and get access. Here you can see writing in Russian. The state of conservation is generally speaking extremely good.

On one side of the eastern loading platform, you can see a standard Soviet military transportable trailer, maybe a local operation control center.

In order to get to the northern bunker you need to climb uphill, crossing some further inner fences – it was typical to Soviet bases having multiple fences inside military bases, separating parts with different functions and levels of security.

While loading platforms of the southern bunker are tilted by 90 degrees with respect to the axis of the bunker, for the northern bunker they are aligned along the same direction.

The eastern access to the northern bunker features is fairly well conserved. Also here, it is possible to access the airlock, but the inner gate is sealed.

On top of the northern bunker, you can find the ‘pedestrian access’ to the underground cellar. The gates used to carry the warheads in and out were usually kept closed, and the troops or technicians staying inside the bunker, which had provision for a few men overlooking the sensitive ordnance 24/7 in shifts, could enter and leave the bunker via a more modestly sized hatch. This could be reached from the top of the bunker, descending very steep stairs to the level of the bottom of the internal chamber. There you had an airlock, with tight doors the size of a man. These are closed in Urkut, but you can see the external tight door in its original yellow coating with conspicuous writing in Russian.

The soft construction protecting the access to the stairs is today severely damaged.

Finally, the western entrance to the northern bunker is very similar in shape to the eastern one. The northern gate of the complex is not far from here.

Also here, the airlock can be accessed, but the bunker cannot be entered.

All in all, the Urkut site is in an exceptionally good condition in the panorama of Soviet remains. A conversion into a museum would be highly desirable, and would require a very little effort. The fact that the bunkers are closed clearly suggests the inside was not touched, so maybe only basic renovation would be required to make the place a top-notch attraction for Cold War history enthusiasts.

Getting there & Moving around

The site is either on private land or state-owned. In any case, it is not officially accessible. The access roads are guarded, with people (and watchdogs) living on site. Car access on the access road is not allowed either. Walking on the site you may find several vibration sensors with cable connections likely to the booths close to the main access. For these reasons, further indications on access will not be provided.

Soviet Headquarters at Hajmasker Castle

Similar to Wünsdorf in Germany (see this post), Hajmasker Castle was built just before WWI, the focal point of a large military settlement of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During WWII, it was used as a military command center, and as a local headquarter of the German Army in the latest stages of WWII, when the willingness of a part of the Hungarian establishment to put a quick end to the war by negotiating a peace treaty with the Western Allies caused the Germans to take direct control of that war theater.

After the defeat in WWII and the Soviet invasion, since 1945 the castle hosted the headquarters of the Soviet military in Hungary – just like Wünsdorf in the German Democratic Republic. Again in a totally similar fashion, the symbolic end of Soviet dominance in Hungary was marked by the last train for the Soviet staff leaving Hajmasker for the USSR in 1990.

As said, the castle is what remains of a larger military village. The building is really sizable, with a characteristic prominent tower on the front facade.

Walking around the castle you can find a theater hall opposite the tower.

The walls are pierced, so you can see inside, without getting access to the hall, which appears really one step away from collapse. To the back of the castle you can find traces of a large apron for military use, and direct access to the railway nearby.

Back to the tower, the original gate is not made for large vehicles, and the gracious artistic style of the construction clearly suggests a pre-Soviet design.

Climbing upstairs, you meet long corridors with traces of the offices of the top-ranking men from the Soviet military. Hajmasker is strategically located close to the region where the Urkut site is (see above), and where the former base of Veszprem is also located. The place is less than one hour from Budapest.

The view from the top floors of the building further reveals the size of the castle, together with the poor state of conservation.

Ahead of the entrance, a Soviet-style apartment block can be found, still inhabited today. Smaller buildings are all around the castle, both modern or from the age of the castle. You can find also the flat building of a former canteen, clearly Soviet-designed and today abandoned.

Getting there & Moving around

The place is located at the following GPS coordinates: 47.148319, 18.026145. The castle is formally off-limits, but it is totally abandoned and accessed by writers, creepy-ambience-lovers, as well as by the local population. You may park right ahead of the gate among the cars of those living in the local neighborhood. You will be spotted for sure when accessing, but nobody will likely interfere, as access is totally easy (no fences, no barbed wire,…), despite being formally prohibited. Enter at your own risk, as the building looks really rotting, with the roof partly collapsed, exposing wood and bricks as construction materials – considering their age, the high rise of the building and total disrepair over the last decades, this means high risk.

Veszprem Abandoned Airbase & Ghost Town

The old airfield in Veszprem acted as a major helicopter base during the Cold War, but style of the some of the older buildings betrays its 1930s origin as an airbase with annexed training academy. Of course, the Soviets enlarged its structure, and possibly as late as the 1980s they built massive housing in their typical poorly original style.

In the 1990s, with the change in the global strategic situation following the Soviet demise, the Hungarian government got rid of many military infrastructures, and Veszprem was on the list. Since then, the airport was turned into a short-lived base for commercial transport run by a private company, and as of 2020 it is at the center of a dispute, where the local municipalities are trying to get the land for other uses.

What you can see now reflects this state of things – trucks coming and going everywhere between the old buildings of the former airbase, with some demolition work being carried out and some gigantic commercial storage being built close by. The air-side of the airport appears basically dead, with no flights coming or going, not even small private aircraft operating around it. However, a control tower is still on site, so technically speaking the airport appears to be open for operations.

The place deserves a visit especially for getting a glimpse of the large structure of the maintenance hangars. From the outside, they can be spotted from a distance thanks to their tall curved rooftops.

The hangars have been divided internally in smaller spaces at some point. Getting access is possible in some of them, by the sight is rather desolating since the roof has mostly collapsed, and vegetation is taking over wildly inside.

Towards the airport you can spot more technical buildings, surrounding a wide apron. These technical buildings are apparently from a later era. The metal doors of the big curved hangars are such that getting larger helicopters in and out would not be possible. Maybe they were actually sized for the smaller aircraft of WWII, and their use was somewhat changed in a later time.

Between the hangars and the runway, you can find an impressive number of smaller maintenance buildings and garages, likely for trucks.

In some of them, a few signs in Russian can still be found.

Open air as well as indoor platforms for truck servicing are also there in a number.

Going even further towards the runway – and very close to it – you may find a light, partly wooden construction, with extensive remains of writings in Hungarian, including boards and stuff related to air operations. Here you see also some ‘modern’ writing in English. This is probably a kind o clubhouse of a local flying school from more recent years, likely the 1990s or later.

Looking at the satellite map of Veszprem airbase, you will notice a number of buildings put like spokes on a wheel. These were probably part of the original flight academy. These are today in a very bad shape, totally emptied and waiting for demolition. You can still appreciate the sober, yet stylish construction typical of the late 1930s, with some elements in common with Berlin Tempelhof (see this post).

‘Pravda’ paper was used for gluing the wallpaper in most Soviet bases, and Veszprem is no exception!

Farther away from the runway, you can easily spot massive buildings from Soviet times, like those you could find in Pripyat (see this post), and almost in every larger city of the former USSR.

Further buildings feature a rather peculiar style, with stone decoration you would not expect in military buildings. The fantasy of such decoration is not in support of a Soviet make, so these buildings might be from an older era too.

Getting there & Moving around

As said, this former airbase is technically an active airport, so the area of the runway is likely not safe to go. Yet the level of security is close to null, and you would likely be able to invade the air side before being stopped. However, no aircraft was spotted for the whole length of a multiple hour visit.

The older buildings, including the hangars, as well as the more modern housing from Soviet times, are in a really bad shape, and mostly dilapidated by looters and spoiled by writers. The more modern truck garages and the buildings closer to the runway are in a better shape.

Access by car from the south-western corner is not prohibited, so this may be a good way to get close to the buildings. Large parking opportunities, as the place is mostly unguarded and uninhabited. Just be sure not to interfere with local businesses. Even when spotting your car, the locals will not care about you (this was my case at least), so the place can be visited without much tension. However, for historians this place has not much left in store, and it may be visited mostly for the massive ensemble than for specific highlights.

Tokol Airbase

The former airbase in Tokol is today an active airport. The base used to be a major Soviet asset in the Cold War years, and home to a number of squadrons from the Soviet Air Force and the Soviet Army as well, operating everything ranging from helicopters up in size to transport aircraft. Its extensive premises have been divided, and the state is basically renting most of the hardware – including the former aircraft shelters and aprons – and land to a number of private enterprises, either connected with aviation or not.

The runway is still active for smaller general aviation aircraft, as you can see from the pictures. The place is really a suggestive scenario for pleasure flights, especially for history-fond pilots!

During our visit we had the chance to access some of the largest air shelters, built in the 1980s for aircraft the size of a MiG-29. There are at least five of them, along with more common and smaller ones.

Designed for the case of a scramble, these shelters allowed an aircraft to start its engines inside.

To this aim, the back of the shelter is not closed, but it features a large exhaust deflector tunnel, bent towards the side of the hangar, with a metal door closing it when not in use.

The front gate of the shelter is blast proof, an its thickness is actually really amazing!

The hangar we accesses shelters a couple of nice historic aircraft today. Traces of writings in Russian are a testimony of the previous owners.

Several abandoned buildings, including a rather large one with a small control tower, possibly from an older era – judging from the style similar to some German airfields from Hitler’s times (see this post).

One of the smaller shelters hosts another private enterprise, operating a unique airworthy Aero L-29 trainer from Soviet times. The same hangars offers a rich collection of Soviet signs on the walls.

Tokol features a number of older control towers – the reason is hard to guess…

Climbing one of them, we could get a very good view of the western part of the airfield, with many shelters around. Rather unexpectedly, the tower features an official writing in Chinese – maybe for potential Chinese customers?

Away from the runway, the airbase unfolds with a network of service roads and a number of buildings from Soviet times, today still in a very good shape, albeit shrouded by vegetation.

Getting there & Moving around

Tokol is an active airport, fenced and guarded. Getting in is basically not possible, unless you have a valid reason to enter. We had the chance to get in thanks to the invitation of the owner of the historical Aero L-29 mentioned above, who is also the tenant of the corresponding old aircraft shelter.

Basalt-Type Nuclear Storage on Kunmadaras Airbase

Kunmadaras used to be a major Soviet attack base in Hungary. The place was base for Sukhoi Su-17, Su-24 and MiG-27. This clearly justifies the construction of a Bazalt type storage, for aircraft-dropped nuclear weapons.

As the base is home to some residual, non-military activity and consequently at least lightly guarded, it may be interesting to concentrate on the most unusual nuclear bunker, located in an isolated spot, some .75 miles north of the runway and far from the most active areas.

The road connecting the airport to the bunker, detached in a fashion similar to other Soviet bases (see here and here for more examples), is today completely invaded by vegetation, leaving only a narrow passage to get access to the wide apron where the bunker entrance is located.

A loading platform for trucks can be spotted to the side of the shelter, ahead of the apron.

The six pillars, once covered with a roof and holding a crane for loading operations, are still prominently in place.

The entrance to the bunker is partly hidden by overgrown vegetation. The external curved tight door is gone, similar to the square shaped one deflecting side-ward and creating an airlock by the main entrance. Access is henceforth very easy.

To the side of the entrance corridor, the technical rooms have been spoiled of any hardware, yet the original paint is still in place, as well as writing in Russian. The metal staircase leading to the rooms for the air conditioning plant on the upper floor has been taken away, making the upper level inaccessible. Air conditioning was pivotal in nuclear storage bunkers, due to the need to store the warheads in specific temperature and humidity conditions.

Going further in, you finally get close to the gate of the storage chamber. The two halves of the massive curved tight door once closing the chamber have been taken from their posts and left on the ground. This provides a glimpse of the monster size of these blast-proof doors.

The chamber has turned very humid, and is totally dark. With the help of a torchlight or a camera flash, you can see the walls are still largely covered in their original coat, with painted frames and numbers possibly marking the position of fire extinguishers.

Electric line or pipeline holders painted in green can be found on one side. Also the pavement features a peculiar colored pattern, painted on a kind of linoleum, today covered in dust and dirt.

The concrete wall to the back of the chamber has been torn down, and some stones and land have come into the chamber. Bazalt type bunkers had only one main gate to the front.

Back out, to the north of the hangar, traces of the original barbed wire can be found in the impenetrable vegetation.

Going north from the shelter, pointing away from the base, you can get a distant view of conspicuous housing for the troops and their families – today completely abandoned.

Getting there and Moving around

As said, the main gate east of the base is guarded, as private companies have taken over part of the premises. However, the nuclear bunker is located north of the airfield, at a safe distance from the former airbase and the businesses going on there today. You may reach close to the base by car along an unpaved road used by local farmers, going parallel to the northern side of the base, keeping about 1 mile from it. This is not suitable for city cars though, so maybe you can stop when you feel appropriate, and go by foot.

To access the bunker area from the road (i.e. from north), you need to go through a field of turn-flowers. My advice is to go along the side of the bunker area to the south of it, and taking the old connection road going from the base to the bunker pointing north – trying to penetrate the area directly from north is made extremely difficult, due to the incredibly dense vegetation.

The area of the bunker is totally abandoned, so you can take your time when visiting the place.

Kalocsa Airfield & Anti-Aircraft Defense Area

Kalocsa airfield, located just northwest of the homonym village famous for the paprika business, was used by the Soviets as a helicopter base. Today, this relatively small airfield is very active with smaller general aviation flights and flight school activities, henceforth it cannot be toured freely.

However, to the northwestern corner, you may easily access the area of a former SAM base, likely put here to defend the airfield from air raids. The area features a number of small almost-circular embankments, with concrete platform at the center. This is where the missile would stand. Looking closely, you may see the concrete ducts for cables and pipes connecting the control trailer to each missile.

The area of the embankments is connected to an abandoned command building via a narrow paved road. To the western side of the building, traces of a small monument can be found.

Just south of the command building, a hangar made in 1970 – as the sign clearly says – is today used as a stable.

Getting there & Moving around

Access to the northwestern corner of the airfield is easy moving by car along an unpaved road going along the western side of the airport, and accessible from a public road running south of it. The area of the missiles is formally on the airport, so you should be careful not to interfere with any activity. More importantly, you are likely on a farmer’s land, so enter at your own risk.

Heviz Airport (formerly Sarmellek Airbase) and Granit-Type Bunker

What is today a small civil airport, surrounded by an array of rotting buildings, used to be a prominent Soviet air base, reportedly operating even the MiG-29 type in its heyday.

Being an active commercial airport, access to the air-side is not possible. Yet the premises of today’s airport are more modest in size than those of the original airbase. As a result, you may get access to a part of the former airbase without interfering with airport operations.

Many local businesses have taken over most of the former shelters for fighter aircraft.

Significant houses and garages, in the shabby pure-Soviet style, are now abandoned, and make for a creepy sight.

Going along a former service road, taking south from the control tower, you end up in the land of a farmer. Where the road ends, you can easily spot beyond the fence marking the current perimeter of the airport, the entrance and the typical round shape of a Granit bunker. The original metal door typical to this type is missing, or maybe it was never installed.

As said, Granit bunkers could be used for a variety of purposes, including storing command and control facilities, or as communication bunkers. The fact that the CIA listed this site as a nuclear depot may be also due to the fact that the Granit bunker made the place ‘nuclear-ready’.

Getting there & Moving around

As said, this is a commercial airport. The entrance to the former airbase gives access to the control tower as well as the small modern terminal area – a new building to the northeast of the runway. As said, the Granit bunker can be reached by taking the service road from the control tower to the south. This is surrounded by desolating dumps and half-demolished buildings. While technically out from the active airport area, you are still likely moving on private land, so enter at your own risk.

Belgrade War Heritage – From WWII to the Yugoslav Wars

Belgrade, the capital city of today’s Serbia, with a population of 1.3 millions, boasts traces of dating back to the Roman Empire. Strategically located on the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, through the ages it grew to become a major military and trading post.

A city at war – brief historical perspective

In the 19th century, with the foundation of a Kingdom of Serbia free from the Ottoman rule, Belgrade became a capital city of an independent power, right at the geographical center of the Balkan region.

In 1914, tense relations with the better established and more powerful Austrian Empire triggered WWI, where Serbia fought on the side of the winners, gaining territories extending to the Adriatic Sea from the dismembered Austrian empire. These regions were encapsulated in an unprecedented entity, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where Belgrade played again as capital city.

Soon after, WWII saw a bloody and rather unsung front opening in the Balkans, conquered from the north by Hitler’s Wehrmacht, and from the south by fascist Italy. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ceased to exist, and Belgrade – initially the target of massive air attacks by Germany – was made for a while the capital of a kind of German protectorate. It was in the final years of WWII that communist-led resistance para-military corps led by Marshal Tito, secretly supported by the Western Allies, started operating massively against the Axis. Tito was backed especially by the British, who provided war materiel, staff for tactical decisions and political support.

When Serbia was liberated, with the help of the Red Army attacking from southern Ukraine through today’s Romania on Serbia’s eastern border, Tito raised to power, re-founding Yugoslavia as a communist country extending from Greece to Austria and Italy, and with borders with Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – all the latter three being communist countries, deeply entangled with the Soviet Union. Belgrade was again the capital city of a powerful and strategically relevant state.

Quite oddly from Stalin’s perspective, Tito did not capitulate the sovereignty of Yugoslavia to the USSR – unlike most states in Eastern Europe. This again was possible likely through the support of the West, in the quickly evolving geo-political situation soon after WWII leading to the Cold War, where former allies split on the two sides of the Iron Curtain. As a matter of fact, no Soviet military bases were ever placed in Yugoslavia, a communist country which until the Fifties even obtained war material from the West!

Tito managed to keep his post on the international scene and internally until his death in 1980. Soon after, the artificial ties between the many nations united in Yugoslavia began to crack, and almost at the same time of the end of communism in Eastern Europe, the country literally fell apart. As of now the bloodiest conflicts in post-WWII Europe, the Yugoslavian Wars saw the secession of several new national entities from one another and from Serbia. Belgrade is now the capital city of the Republic of Serbia.

War heritage in Belgrade – What is covered in this chapter

The troubled history of Belgrade as a capital city has left permanent traces in the fort, one of the oldest and most prominent highlights in town. The foundations bear traces of the ancient Roman fort, but a defense bunker dug underground within its premises is a witness of the role of this old part of the town in more recent years.

An ideal setting for a weapons display, the fort is also where the museum of military history can be found. Dating from Tito’s era, this place boasts a remarkable collection of war material from all ages, including WWII, the Cold War and the 1990s. It stands as a perfect counterpart for the air museum, covered in this chapter. Further items of interest include one-of-a-kind memorabilia items belonging to Marshal Tito.

Being Tito’s Yugoslavia capital city, it is no surprise the founder of postwar Yugoslavia was buried here. An extremely interesting purpose-built museum – a major relic of the Cold War era – surrounds the mausoleum. There you can find a massive documentation on the dictator, including signed photographs and gifts from prominent western political leaders – including virtually every US President in office during Tito’s many decades in charge! This witnesses the special status of Marshal Tito in the eyes of western powers.

Another characteristic sight is the ‘Genex Tower’, a unique skyscraper of American size, with a style resembling ‘Blade Runner’ motion picture’s set. A real punch in the eye in the landscape, this is tower is of course another witness of how private enterprises – this time, the Yugoslavian tourism group Genex – could get a prominent status in communist Yugoslavia, differently from Soviet-style fully centralized economies. It is also an example of an original architectural style from the Cold War era, showing the great care given to art and architecture by the communist party of Yugoslavia – another prominent example being ‘spomeniks’, monuments scattered over the entire former territory of the country (see this dedicated chapter).

Similarly interesting is ‘Avala Tower’, a TV tower with an elevated panorama platform from the 1960s. Besides the architectural interest, it is worth mentioning this tower was targeted by NATO air raids in 1999, and completely demolished. It was rebuilt in an identical shape and re-opened only recently.

The oddest among war-connected items in town is the former building of the ministry of defense, close to today’s capital directional center. Having being targeted by NATO bombing raids in 1999 and severely damaged, it was left for years damaged and derelict, a memento for the attack by NATO forces, and the focus of much controversy.

Photographs of these sites are from a visit in Spring 2019.

Map

The sites covered in this chapter can be found on the map below.

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Sights

Military Museum of Belgrade

When getting access to the beautiful historical fort of Belgrade, a vantage point to watch the oldest districts and the rivers, you will hardly miss an impressive array of cannons, howitzers, tanks and missile batteries from earlier than Napoleon to the Cold War.

This rich collection is the outside part of the Military Museum of Belgrade. Founded back in Tito’s era, this museums offers an overview of the war history of this war-battered part of the world, since ancient times to the latest Yugoslavian Wars of the 1990s.

The collection features interesting items especially from WWII, including pieces of German make, as well as from the Cold War period, like Soviet-made ‘Katyusha’ launchers and SAM batteries.

Despite the initial struggle with Stalin, after the latter’s death, relations with the USSR improved. Since then, military supply for Yugoslavia mainly came from the USSR, flanked by a non-negligible domestic production.

The indoor collection starts from much back in time, with weapons dating from the centuries of the struggle against the Ottoman rule. A major section is dedicated to the 19th century, when the Kingdom of Serbia was founded. As known, the spark for WWI came from the Balkans. Serbia took part to the war on the side of the Entente. As a result, after WWI the Kingdom of Serbia increased its territory and became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia since the late 1920s.

Resulting from the political union of peoples of diverse ethnicity, religion, language and commercial vocation, this kingdom never experienced much stability. As a matter of fact, king Alexander I was murdered on a visit to France by Macedonian fighters for independence. The blood stained shirt of the king following the assassination – notably the first such event to be video recorded, albeit in 1934 quality – is preserved in the museum.

Like elsewhere in Europe, WWII years saw the suppression of the existing institutions. In 1941 Yugoslavia was invaded by neighboring Hitler’s Germany (which at that time was a single entity with Austria). The Nazi rule was implemented in the region of today’s Serbia, administrated by a German-backed local government. Items from this era are abundant, and include maps, weaponry and uniforms.

Of special interest are also the double-language notices – in German and Serbian – produced by Nazi Germany, with the distinctive eagle and swastika (similar to what you can find in the occupied territories of the USSR, see for instance here).

Also interesting are the bounty signs about Tito and other ‘comrades’ – the resistance movements were well organized and supplied, with the backing of Western Allies operating from Greece and southern Italy in the latter years of the war, thus creating real troubles to the invading powers.

Despite that, also improvised weapons were used, presented in the museum. Being an installation from Tito’s time, the operations of the communist-led resistance para-military units is showcased with flags, banners, uniforms and weapons.

A true relic in the museum is made of a small collection of Marshal Tito’s own uniforms and everyday items. These include some field items – torchlight, map magnifier – as well as more personal belongings – glasses, a USSR souvenir, apparently a pencil case, and more.

Some interesting photographs include portraits of US staff and aircraft operating from Yugoslavia, as well as a copy of the declaration of support to Tito’s army from the participants to the Tehran conference – Churchill, Stalin and president Roosevelt.

A very Soviet-style part of the museum is a kind of memorial, with a statue of Tito and a myriad of banners from various military groups – a kind of homage – completed by a massive engraved metal map of communist Yugoslavia.

A significant part of the museum deals with the 1990s wars. These include the early secession war mainly opposing Croatia, but deeply involving Bosnia-Herzegovina. Weapons of the Croatian army are on display.

A latter part is devoted to the war with Kosovo, which resulted in an open, mainly air-fought conflict against overwhelming NATO forces. From the fierce and polemical titles of the display cases in this latest part of the museum, it is clear that this fragment of history is still an open wound in the collective memory of Serbia. Maps of NATO bombing incursions have been created, and curiously translated into English, for the eyes of western visitors.

More substantial remains from this relatively recent struggle can be found at the air museum of Belgrade, covered in this post, in the form of wrecks of downed aircraft and western missile bodies.

Visiting

The museum is a major attraction among those scattered over the premises of the fort. Access to the outdoor part, surely deserving a walk-through also for those not particularly interested in history, is free of charge, and may be very appealing for the kids. The indoor collection is extremely interesting for war historians or history-minded people, but the exhibition may be hard for children. Most items are labeled also in English, making the visit interesting. Visiting the inside part may take from .5 to more than 1 hour, depending on your level of interest. A photo permit is required to take pictures inside. Website with info here.

Mystery Bunker in the Fort of Belgrade

This bunker is poorly advertised, and only scarce on-site descriptions are provided. It is basically made of a tunnel built close to a the most panoramic corner of the fortress. Access is via a narrow stair, giving access to a U-shaped corridor, connecting two double-floor underground circular towers.

On the lower floor of the towers, sleeping rooms for troops can be found, together with water tanks. On the upper floor what appears as an unfinished or lately interred firing position for high-caliber artillery can be found.

Construction is similar to some installations of the Atlantic Wall (see for instance here and here), hence it may date from WWII or soon after.

Due to the (strangely) scant description, it is hard to tell the history of this mystery bunker, and I am only guessing its function.

Visiting

The site can be visited with an inexpensive ticket, to be purchased (cash only) by the entrance to the helical pit, a much more advertised attraction nearby. To be honest, nobody checked my ticket once by the entrance to the bunker, which at a first glance can be confused with a backyard deposit (it is really not much celebrated as an attraction). Anyway, I came across a Serbian-speaking small guided group on my visit, so there must be chance of getting inside like that, enjoying some better explanation. Visiting alone may take 15 minutes. A little info on the site of the Fortress, here.

Marshal Tito’s Mausoleum and Memorabilia Museum

This installation lies to the back of the older building of the Museum of Yugoslavia, dating from Tito’s era and currently closed for renovation (2020). The neighborhood is very nice, with buildings of many embassies. The mausoleum and the annexed museum are part of a nice ensemble, surrounded by a garden. A very modern entrance hall with shop and services has been prepared at the entrance.

The burial place of Marshal Tito is in a greenhouse-like building, pretty nice and peaceful. The tomb is definitely plain and not bombastic, nothing you would expect from a dictator. Tito’s wife is buried nearby.

To the sides of the building you can find a well designed exhibition including personal belongings of Tito, parts of his office furniture, as well as pictures – including a magnified one with dignitaries attending his funeral ceremony in 1980.

A small excerpt of the huge collection of scepters, a traditional gift offered to Tito by every group or local society on his domestic visits, can be visioned here. Some of these are really nicely crafted, some are funny – some are really kitschy and caricatural.

A second part of the installation is hosted in a small, separate building. Here an incredible collection of gifts, personal belongings, photographs, authentic papers from the fund of the Museum of History about momentous events in Yugoslavian history, autographs and scepters can be found.

Of special interest are the official portraits – often signed – of presidents, dignitaries, kings and queens from various ages and from all over the world. This collection witnesses the relative popularity of Marshal Tito in the West, even though NATO forces never trusted him fully – the missile defense system placed in northeastern Italy in the 1960s and 1970s is a clear memory of that (see this post).

Similar to Ceausescu’s house in Bucharest (see here), the items on display make for a very vivid memory of Marshal Tito life and actions, and really bring back the man from history. Really an evoking place those interested in the Cold War can’t miss out!

Visiting

This attraction can be easily reached by car, a few minutes from central Belgrade, in a nice and safe neighborhood (see map). The local name is ‘Kuca Cveca’. As a branch of the Museum of Yugoslavia, it is modernly managed and has been recently revamped, making the visit enjoyable and interesting. For those with an interest in the Cold War era or Tito’s life and legacy, a visit to this site may easily take 1-1.5 hours on a self-guided basis, despite the place being relatively small and easy to tour. Guided tours are possible as well, info on the official website (in English) here.

Genex Tower

An internationally known piece of contemporary architecture, this strange looking massive skyscraper can be clearly spotted from the fortressof Belgrade, looking west towards ‘Nikola Tesla’ airport. It was built between 1977 and 1980, and is made of two bodies connected at the top through an elevated platform.

The name Genex Tower comes from the legacy Genex company, a large tour operator from the Yugoslavian era, operating even an independent airline, Aviogenex, flying mainly touristic routes conveying visitors from western Europe to the beautiful coast of Dalmatia. This openness of Yugoslavia to western tourism has been an uncommon characteristic in the panorama of communist-led countries. Overt trade relations with the West contributed to a higher standard of living of Yugoslav population, compared to the USSR-controlled Eastern Bloc neighbors.

The tower is today partly a relic. The half once hosting the offices of Genex and its subsidiaries is mostly empty, even though not abandoned – there is a porter apparently living there, and willing to answer your questions on the history of the place! Going beyond the entry hall is not possible, but the hall itself deserves a glance – built with style, it is much more pleasant than the outside of the building!

The atmosphere is really evocative of the Cold War era. Like other buildings – mainly hotels – in former Yugoslavia, the style of the interior somehow recalls the old-fashioned luxury of some older James Bond movie setting!

The residential part is still inhabited as a high-rise condominium. The entrance is via a small door, but despite the derelict appearance of the small square ahead of the building, it looks normally cared for.

The circular platform on top of the tower used to host a panorama restaurant, today long gone.

The view of the platform from between the two main bodies from the base makes for a peculiar photographic set – as a matter of fact, professional photographers were taking pictures  from that spot for a fashion review!

Visiting

The tower can be reached by car, a few minutes north of the city center. This is basically a non-public building, so while visiting is not possible, the open, unfenced premises at the base of the tower allow walking freely around the tower. The neighborhood is densely populated and safe, despite the base of the tower not looking good, due to disrepair. Parking opportunities all around. A walk around the base may take 15 minutes. If you like to get inside the hall of the largely unused (as of 2020) commercial building, you may also have a chat with the porter about the history of the place. The visit won’t be much longer, anyway.

Avala Tower

This tower is located south of Belgrade, and is a vantage point for observing the town and the countryside around. The original tower was completed between 1961 and 1964, entering the world’s top-ten list of tallest buildings at the height of the Cold War era. That tower was targeted by NATO bombing in 1999 and destroyed. It was rebuilt between 2007 and 2009, mostly identical to the original design.

It is today a renowned tourist attraction. A remarkable engineering and design masterpiece, the tower boasts an uncommon three-leg base, giving a shape well fitting in the years of the space age when it was designed – despite the inspiration being reportedly from a three-legged Serbian traditional chair.

The platform on top can be reached via a fast elevator. Strange massive condominiums in the southern outskirts of Belgrade can be clearly spotted from here, but the most striking feature is the wild countryside surrounding Belgrade, really a spot in the green.

Not far from the tower, the interesting Monument to the Unknown Soldier from the 1930s is a remarkable national shrine from the years of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Visiting

The Avala Tower can be reached by car in about 45 minutes from central Belgrade – mainly due to traffic, since it is not geographically far (see map). Parking on site. The place is managed as a modern large scale attraction, website here.

The Monument to the Unknown Soldier is open 24/7, a quick and interesting detour from the tower, with a dedicated small parking close to a fashionable ‘old-Europe’ vintage hotel. Explanatory panels nearby.

Ruins of the Ministry of Defense

The building of the ministry of defense was targeted during a bombing raid in April 1999, and severely damaged. An administrative building right in today’s administrative district of downtown Belgrade, it has been left mostly untouched for years now, as a memento of the war against the NATO alliance.

Two buildings can be seen cross the street. Part of the corresponding blocks are still in use, and for safety reasons portions of the damaged buildings have been finally demolished in recent years. More and more plans to convert this very central area to something else have been elaborated, as memory of the troubled 1990s is slowly fading.

Visiting

The place can be reached easily with a walk from the historical and shopping districts of Belgrade (see map). The buildings are inaccessible, and can be seen from the outside. A 5 minutes stop along your walk may suffice to check this item.

The Aeronautical Museum of Belgrade

With a few parallels in aviation history, especially in the years immediately following WWII, former Yugoslavia benefited from supplies by a great number of countries. As a matter of fact, the air force of this newborn communist republic was formed at first from leftovers of retreating Germany and conquering Britain, followed by the establishment of a supply line initially from the USSR, and later the US and again Britain.

The special political ability of marshal Tito, who ruled uncontested as a communist dictator since the foundation of Yugoslavia in 1945 until his death in 1980, and the credit he benefited from especially in Britain, allowed him to keep out of the sphere of influence of the USSR since 1948. In a strategic position on the border with NATO countries like Italy and Greece, Tito adopted a detente policy of ‘equal-distance’ between the two opposing blocs over the Cold War period (even though NATO did not trust him fully, as testified by the deployment of a SAM defense line in northeastern Italy, see this post).

Of course, most of the military supply was of Soviet make, especially after the death of Stalin and well until the end of communism in Europe and the bloody fragmentation of the Yugoslav state. However, concerning civil aviation, autonomy from Moscow allowed the adoption of western aircraft, like the French Aerospatiale Caravelle and much of the Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas inventory, in the major national airline JAT – something which happened very rarely anywhere in the communist bloc over the years of the Cold War, another notable instance being Romania, again a ‘semi-autonomous’ communist dictatorship, who refused the Soviet Tupolev Tu-134 in favor of license-built British BAC 1-11s.

Another effect of the autonomy from the USSR was the creation of a national aviation industry, which especially in the case of SOKO, produced military trainers and light attack aircraft of good success, which despite ageing, are still flying today.

More recently, the fierce conflicts raging over the Balkans in the 1990s have created a major active front for modern aviation, where the air force of Serbia – which inherited the geographically central part of Yugoslavia and its capital city, Belgrade – confronted the NATO alliance in an open conflict. The unbalance of forces allowed the western coalition to quickly establish air superiority, which did not come without a few notable material losses however.

A rich display of this peculiar aviation history, actually tracing back to WWI and the early years of aviation, can be found in the Aeronautical Museum of Belgrade, which despite being in today’s Serbia, acts as a kind of Yugoslav Aviation Museum. As a matter of fact, it was founded as such back in the years of Tito, and opened in its current building nearby ‘Nikola Tesla’ civil airport of Belgrade in 1989, when Yugoslavia was still a reality.

This short post provides an outline of what you can find in this museum, with photographs taken on a visit in April 2019.

Sights

The museum occupies a relatively large area in the vicinity of the airport of Belgrade, and is made of an open-air exhibition, open-air storage area, and big mushroom-shaped building hosting an indoor exhibition.

The ‘gate guardian’ is a SOKO J-21 Jastreb, a nice light multi-role aircraft from the 1960s, powered by a British Rolls-Royce Viper jet engine.

Indoor exhibition

The entry hall of the mushroom-shaped building features is a good example of the architectural style from the late communist era. The ground floor hosts a small exhibition about the early days of aviation in the former region of the Balkans, with documents from WWI years. Among the items on display, you can find early pilot’s licenses from notable war pilots, likely granted after training abroad, and actually written in French.

The main hall of the museum can be found upstairs. This large can be walked on two levels. Most aircraft are to be found on the lower level, but a few are suspended to the glassy circular sidewall of the mushroom, lighted from behind by the sunlight – so that taking pictures is just a nightmare!

The centerpiece of the collection is an exemplar of the SOKO J-22 Orao, a twin-engined – two Rolls-Royce Viper turbofans – light ground-attack and trainer aircraft from the 1970s. Designed jointly by Yugoslavia and Romania, this model equipped the Yugoslav (then Serbian) air force during the 1990s, where a handful exemplars are still flying today.

Indeed a clean design with an interesting performance, this aircraft was possibly the last heir of the Ikarus-then-SOKO lineage, originated back in the years before WWII. In this respect, some unique exemplars of aircraft are preserved in this museum, witnessing the existence of a school of skilled aircraft designers in Serbia, not much known in the western world.

A key figure of the Ikarus design bureau, Dragoljub Beslin led the design of Ikarus S-451, a nice, very small, twin-prop attack aircraft flown in 1951, especially designed to sustain high load factors in maneuvers at high speed.

Another unique specimen is the twin-jet Ikarus 451M, the first jet aircraft built by Yugoslavia. Same designer as the S-451, this unusual jet-engined taildragger flew in 1952, but was soon superseded by more modern models, in those years of quick-paced development of aviation technology. Again, the engines were from the West, in the form of two French Turbomeca Palas turbojets.

Another member of the ‘Ikarus 451’ family – it must be said this Yugoslav one is likely the oddest model numbering systems ever created… –  the T 451 MM Strsljen (Hornet) features a more convincing configuration, resembling the single-engined British BAC Jet Provost and the Italian Macchi MB 326, both rather successful trainers from the late 1950s. On display is actually the ‘Strsljen II’ version, which is a attack/training version with more thrust than the first series aircraft. This model was conceived to operate from unprepared runways, and featured two Turbomeca Marbore II French turbojets. The aircraft flew in 1958, but an air force contract was not granted.

Some functional wind tunnel models of other aircraft, actually never reaching the 1:1 prototype stage, are on display. These include a rare ekranoplane design, the UTVA 754. With a mechanic-monster-like appearance like all ekranoplanes (the most famous being probably the Bertini-Beriev preserved at the Russian Air Force Museum in Monino, see here), this machine was designed in 1982 in the then-Yugoslav town of Zagreb, today the capital city of Croatia.

A medevac aircraft conceived for easy conversion between floats and wheels, the UTVA 66H can be visited also inside. The indigenous SOKO is represented by a number of models. These include the SOKO G-2 Galeb, a successful trainer/light attack aircraft from the 1950s, built around a single Rolls-Royce Viper turbofan. During its long history it was exported to several international operators, and gave birth to the more recent SOKO J-21 Jastreb. The Galeb was in service with Serbia until 1999.

Another section of the museum features aircraft of foreign make which witness the intricate history of alliances of both the pre-WWII Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the post-WWII communist Yugoslavia. Most remarkably, these include a Messerschmitt Bf-109-G! The history of this particular aircraft is not very clear, some sources stating it was captured from Bulgarian air force. As a matter of fact, Yugoslavia acquired about 70 Bf-109-E from Germany in 1940, which in turn furiously invaded from north in a quick an violent campaign in spring 1941.

Next in line is nothing less than a British Hawker Hurricane! A group of Hurricanes were acquired from Britain in the immediate pre-war years, and even license-built in Belgrade in a small number – Yugoslavia apparently purchased aircraft seamlessly from both opponents at the outbreak of WWII. Later on, Hurricane-equipped squadrons of Yugoslavia fought back on the side of the Allies from bases in southern Italy, finally regaining control over the Balkans.

In a similar fashion, a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V witnesses the involvement of British-supplied national air force squadrons in the liberation of Yugoslavia from the German invaders.

In the closing years of WWII, Yugoslavia benefited also from the help of the USSR. This is witnessed by a massive – and pretty rare, out of former soviet republics! – Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik. This big attack aircraft, possibly the most famous Soviet aircraft of WWII, equipped three squadrons in the Yugoslav air force, and helped in the fight on the so-called ‘Srem front’ north of Belgrade. An often overlooked sector of the European front, substantial operations were carried out since late 1944 until April 1945, with the forces of Nazi Germany slowly retreating under the offensive of the Red Army (including Bulgarian divisions) and of Yugoslavia from the south. These operations involved 250’000 troops on either side, thus engaging the Germans and draining resources from mainland defense. At that time, an entire division of the Yugoslav air force were equipped with this aircraft type, kept in service until the 1950s.

Similarly, an elegant WWII Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter of Soviet make can be found nearby in the colors of Yugoslavia.

After the end of WWII, Tito was determined not to surrender his political and economic independence to Stalin. In this high-stake gamble, he made no secret of his thoughts, and sought international recognition from the west. As expected, Stalin showed no sense of humor in that matter, and as the USSR broke relationships with Yugoslavia, this country faced the risk of isolation and of Soviet invasion in the early stage of the Cold War (late 1940s).

Over the years, the good relationship established with the western Allies during WWII were strengthened further, and most incredibly for a communist country, the US provided aircraft and helicopters, in the form of Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, Republic F-84G Thunderjet and (much later, in the early 1960s) North American F-86D ‘long-nosed’ Sabre.

The years of Kennedy administration saw a significant improvement of the relationship between Tito and Khrushchev, and this led to a switch to Soviet aircraft in the form of the supersonic MiG-21, which equipped the Yugoslav air force in substantial numbers over the following two decades. An exemplar of this iconic and ubiquitous aircraft, an unquestionably well-performing aircraft in his age, is preserved in the museum. By the way, the early 1960s saw also the widespread adoption of SOKO Galeb trainers and the phase out of older British/US models.

Other peculiar exhibits in the indoor part of the museum are the wrecks resulting from air fight operations during the Yugoslavian wars of the 1990s. On the national (Yugoslav) side, the tail cone of a SOKO G-4 Super Galeb – a totally different design from the quasi-homonym G-2 – damaged by a shoulder-launched Stinger missile in 1991.

But much more material is from NATO countries, resulting from combat during operation ‘Allied Force’ against Serbia in 1999. Most notably, you can see a substantial part of the wing of a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the famous stealth aircraft downed by a vintage Soviet SA-3 Goa surface-to-air missile in March 1999, as well as a landing gear, ejection seat, pilot’s helmet, Vulcan cannon and some smaller parts of a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon downed the following May, again due to an SA-3 missile. The first stage of the missile which hit the Nighthawk is on display too.

These are basically the only aircraft lost in action over enemy territory during that operation.

An apparently easier prey, General Atomics RQ-1 Predator UAVs were used in great numbers, some twenty of them being downed. One wrecked example is put on display.

More items of the kind include parts of NATO missiles, including HARM anti-radiation missiles and cluster-bombs containers.

On the upper level, you can find a mostly photographic exhibition mainly about the national carrier JAT. Interestingly, not a single Soviet-made model appears in the pictures, whereas you can find Boeing 707s, 727s, 737s, Douglas DC-9s, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s, Aerospatiale Caravelles and ATR-42/72s – clearly a strong commercial bound with the West, pretty unusual for a communist country!

Another Yugoslav airline started operations to a later date – Aviogenex. This apparently did use aircraft from the USSR, in particular Tupolev Tu-134s, later flanked by Boeing 737s. Aviogenex ceased operations much later than the end of Yugoslavia, and operated as a Serbian company for some years.

One of the most iconic brutalist monstrosities in northern Belgrade is the skyscraper which used to host the headquarters of this airline – it looks like a good setting for some ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Judge Dredd’ movie…

Some more panels include descriptions of airport history and modern operations in the nearby airport of Belgrade. The history line of the national aviation industry is also presented in detail through historical pictures.

Some more aircraft can be found on this level, as well as a SA-3 Goa missile in a non-operative paint scheme, likely for training or telemetry tuning purposes.

Outdoor exhibition

The large area around the building is split between a small outdoor exhibition prepared for the public, and a larger storage area with many more aircraft which can not be neared nor walked around.

The displayed aircraft include an Aerospatiale Caravelle in the colors of JAT. This exemplar was one of three operated by this airline, and was active between 1963 and 1976.

A much elder transport, a German (French license-built) Junkers 52 with P&W engines represents a fleet of four such aircraft operated by the Yugoslav air force, complementing another group of originally German aircraft captured during the war.

An aircraft of historical significance is an Ilyushin Il-14 twin-prop transport. This aircraft was a personal goodwill gift from Khrushchev to marshal Tito, and the founding member of Yugoslav presidential fleet.

A couple of Lisunov Li-2 and some original Douglas C-47 Skytrain, of which the former is a license-built Soviet version, are on display, albeit not all complete. A MiG-21 Fishbed and a Kamov twin-rotor helicopter are also on display.

Another extremely rare item from the post-WWII years, a Short SA.6 Sealand amphibious aircraft of British make has made its way to Belgrade, after years as a transport aircraft in the Yugoslav air force.

The non-visible part of the museum features a rather impressive collection of MiG-21 in several versions, SOKO J-21 Jastreb and SOKO J-20 Kraguj in a large number, a SA-2 Guideline soviet-made SAM launcher with two missiles, and a number of partly assembled aircraft and wrecks.

A mystery item is a part of an allegedly US aircraft, apparently a part of the tail empennage of a bigger transport – any suggestion about this item welcome!

Visiting

The museum is located to the northwest of the airport of Belgrade. It can be easily reached by car from the access road going to the main terminal area. Website with info in English here. Parking ahead of the entrance.

The museum can be visited in about 2 hours by an interested subject, much less if you have just a mild interest in aviation. Much paneling is in double Serbian and English language, allowing to get the most from your visit.

Despite being fully operative, the place has a somewhat rotting appearance especially from the outside, as mostly typical to former state-run institutions in former Yugoslavia. Furthermore, some form of protection for the aircraft in the outside exhibition is hopefully to be considered by the management, otherwise the aircraft with literally disintegrate to the action of the elements in a matter of some years.

Spomenik – Iconic Modern Art from Tito’s Yugoslavia

Soon after the end of the war Tito and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia started a fight against the Soviet Union to escape Stalin’s direct control – a fight where they succeeded, creating in Yugoslavia a unique, truly communist dictatorship totally under Tito’s power, and not just another soviet satellite country.

To make differences from the USSR more apparent, artistic production, often representing an internationally recognized value for a country on the international stage, needed to part from the rhetoric of socialist realism of Stalin’s years. New, original aesthetics were sought, capable of expressing the modernity of Yugoslavia, while being not free from the control of the State, celebrating and promoting unity in a country which had never enjoyed national unity – something later reflected in the bloody split of the 1990s.

Tito’s aesthetic views for the new post-WWII Yugoslavia are greatly reflected in the project for the realization of an array of hundreds of monuments, to be designed and erected in locations scattered over the whole territory of the former Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. These monuments go under the name of ‘spomenik’ – an internationally known word in the local idiom, simply translating into ‘monument’.

Most of these spomeniks commemorate some bloody facts of the Second World War – most often a local battle between Yugoslav communist partisans and the German Wehrmacht, or the Italian Army of the ‘Duce’, but also clandestine congresses of local subversive communist groups, mass murders by the Axis invaders, and so on. The realization of the project, sometimes fueled by the local interest to keep the memory of a historical fact of regional relevance, but in any case coordinated by the Communist Party, took a long time span, with most of the monuments designed and built over the 1960s and 1970s, before Marshall Tito died (1980).

Besides the historical significance bound to the events they commemorate, two facts make spomeniks an interesting target for curious travelers. The aesthetics of these monuments is often non banal, showing an attention to details and an artistic sensibility which is not usual to communist-ruled countries. In this sense, spomeniks sometimes stand out as very original, interesting – and pretty massive… – works of art. Secondarily, as the events they commemorate often took place in remote areas, spomeniks can be found in incredible natural spots of the former territory of Yugoslavia, immersed in the wilderness or in the middle of a gorgeous natural scenery, not easy to reach and isolated from civilization.

After the end of communism and following the secession wars of the 1990s in the Balcans, many spomeniks fell into disrepair. Today, some of them have been refurbished, while others have been completely demolished, reflecting a mixed feeling of the local population towards this artistic heritage. A good share of them has been simply left behind, gaining the typical ‘ghost aura’ of the architectures of former communist countries.

For hunters of historical relics, spomeniks are double-attractive – not only are they tangible traces of a bygone communist dictatorship with unique traits, but they stand out for their often severe appearance, like traces of a mysterious alien civilization, now long gone.

This chapter presents a handful of these monuments, which you can find along an ideal itinerary connecting the capital cities of todays republics of Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia & Hercegovina and North Macedonia. These are just a very small set out of the total, yet some of them are among the most famous and artistically valuable. Furthermore, except those in North Macedonia, they can be reached without any substantial detour from the major roads connecting Podgorica, Belgrade and Sarajevo, thus making for an interesting ‘side visit’ on your way from one of these nice cities to the next, on a cultural trip to the area. Similarly, many spomeniks in North Macedonia can be found close to touristic locations. Photographs were taken during two visits, a week-long tour in Spring 2019 (Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia & Hercegovina) and a long week-end in late Summer 2019 (North Macedonia).

If you are interested in a deeper analysis on the history and art behind spomeniks, or you are looking for a more complete directory of these monuments, please refer to this great resource site.

Map

The following map shows the detailed location of all the spomeniks listed in this post. I personally checked all of them, so the location is very precise. As you will notice, most of them are fairly easily accessible from major or paved roads. Some of them will require a little bit of walking from a parking area to the monument itself.

Navigate this post – click on links to scroll

Sights

Kolašin, Montenegro

This spomenik is actually a one-of-a-kind example of ‘spomen-dom’, i.e. a monument not designed just to be admired from the outside, but conceived as a building, to host meetings and services inside. The site is right in the central square of the village of Kolašin, in the southeast of Montenegro not far from the Serbian border. This town has been a vital center of the anti-fascist resistance in WWII, when the territory was first subjugated by the Italians, and later by the Germans.

The spomenik was designed and built under the supervision of the renowned architect Marko Mušič in the early 1970s. Its age is especially reflected in the use of gray concrete for most of the visible structure. The triangular shape dominating the highest part of the building may recall the typical shape of the traditional houses built in the area – chalet-type, with a triangular roof – or even the tops of the Dinaric Alps all around.

Being a building more than a monument, this spomenik is rather big. Today, the village is an active skiing center, thanks to the great position in the mountains. The spomenik is being used for administrative functions, and blends effectively in the central square of the village. Yet its appearance is today so-so, and maintenance is clearly not enough to preserve it for long. As a matter of fact, inspite of the architectural value which gained it a place in books of architecture, a long future for this spomenik is reportedly not assured.

Getting there and moving around

The spomenik is easily reachable right in the city center of Kolasin, a small town with some up-to-date touristic structures for the winter season – the location is really gorgeous. Free parking all around the central square. You can walk around the spomenik without restriction, but stepping inside is possible only compatibly with the local administrative functions.

Berane, Montenegro

Possibly one of the most elaborated spomeniks, the monument in Berane was built on the spot of an ancient Turkish fortress, now totally gone, in a secluded location immersed in a forest close to this contended town. In the close vicinity of the spomenik, nine students suspected of being part of the resistance were executed by the Italians in 1941. The town of Berane changed hands several times during WWII, and it is estimated that about 6’000 people were killed in the area in the military and para-military actions over the war years.

The spomenik, designed by the Serbian designer Bogdan Bogdanović, was inaugurated in 1977 on a small grassy field, a really nice spot in the forest. It is mainly composed of a more than 50 ft tall conical dome, with a number of massive dark stone slabs delimiting a regular curved perimeter around it. These slabs are carved with interesting symbolic ideograms, telling – among other things the story – of a local clan.

Today, despite its relative remoteness with respect to the town center, the place is actively maintained, frequented by the locals, and in a definitely good shape. Thanks to the secluded position, as well as to the inscriptions in a fantastic archaic language, this spomenik is very mysterious and particularly fascinating – it resembles a megalithic alignment, or a setting from the Lord of the Rings!

Getting there and moving around

The spomenik in Berane cannot be approached by car directly. You will need to face a steep climb uphill on a well-prepared and maintained trail. A 10 minutes walk uphill is needed for a well-trained person. The location has been used for local concerts and commemorations, and is carefully maintained as a park area.

Ostra, Serbia

This spomenik was built on the site of a battle which took place between opposing factions of locals – some of them collaborating with the Axis forces – in 1943. This was just an episode in the larger confrontation between these groups, taking place in the area of the nearby center of Cacak. Notably, the soviet Red Army contributed to the struggle in the last stages of the Axis occupation period, obviously on the side of the local communist partisans.

The monument, designed by Miodrag Živković and Svetislav Licina, was inaugurated in 1969, and was composed of a concrete slab with an inscription in Cyrillic, and a perspective leading to the focal point of the spomenik – an abstract aluminum sculpture, with a sober appearance, pointing diagonally towards the sky. By looking closely to this monument, you can see stylized human faces in the side of it. The metal sculpture is located on top of a hill, with a very scenic view of the surrounding hills.

Despite the metal sculpture being today still in a fairly good condition, the original appearance of the site has been heavily altered by the building an Orthodox church between the concrete commemorative stone and the prominent sculpture. This happened around 2010. Strangely enough, at the time of my visit the church was not open, with parts of furniture provisionally stored ahead of the main door, giving a bad sense of neglect.

Clearly, a church built right in the middle of the spomenik area means that there is not a particular good feeling about this monument. Also the inscriptions by the entrance of the perspective are largely spoiled, with many letters now missing. Yet somebody put flowers by the metal sculpture, which is not heavily spoiled by writers.

All in all, despite the bad general shape and the strong alteration, the location dominating the area and the imposing, sober appearance of the aluminum part is particularly suggestive, and makes for good photo opportunities.

Getting there and moving around

Accessing this spomenik is rather easy. The road reaching the top of the hill is a local asphalt road, which does not pose any special difficulty. Close to the church there is a small parking area, and the metal monument can be reached from there walking on a flat, open grassy area.

Kragujevac, Serbia

What you can find in Kragujevac is not just one spomenik, but a huge and very nice city park with several monuments scattered around. Construction of this park was started by an official decree back in the early 1950s, on the site of the major massacre of Kragujevac. This bloody episode is one of the worst suffered by the civilian population in occupied Yugoslavia, when by the order of the Nazi governors, more than 2’300 from the local population – selected based on race, political views or religion – were systematically killed in a field. The general governor of Yugoslavia responsible for issuing the order – which can be traced back to the German OKW in Wünsdorf – was later trialled for this in Nürnberg after WWII.

The park is still today very well-kept, interdicted to road traffic and only open for walking. Several spomeniks can be found scattered over the park, together with a museum dedicated to the massacre close to the main road access. One of them, and likely the oldest, is the monument called ‘Pain and Defiance’, dating from 1959.

The most famous, and one of the most internationally well-known, is dedicated to pupils and teachers killed in the massacre. It was designed by architect Miodrag Živković in a distinctive ‘V’-shape, about 25 ft tall and 45 long. Despite looking granite, it is made of almost-white concrete. On the face of the monument, it is possible to spot the shapes of human faces and figures. This monument was inaugurated in late 1963.

Located on a gentle slope on the side of a grassy valley, this spomenik occupies a really nice and quiet spot. The nice and peaceful walk leading to it encourages remembrance.

Getting there and moving around

The park is a very well-kept city park, crossed by a few roads which are interdicted to general traffic – basically no cars can enter, I guess these roads can be accessed by car only on special commemorations or similar occasions. Parking is easy close to the museum – itself a rather distinctive construction. A big map of the site can be found on a post close to the parking area (see pics above), and several signs allow you to tour the park, meeting the many monuments according to your interests. Reaching the ‘V’-shaped monument from the main access involves a 10-15 minutes walk along a perfectly prepared road.

Kosmaj, Serbia

Possibly one of the most iconic of all spomeniks, the Kosmaj monument is located on top of a hill, and partly visible from quite a distance, emerging from the treetops. The location was chosen as the foundation site of the Kosmaj partisan detachment, who contributed substantially to the resistance efforts against German occupation forces, with thousands effectives killed or wounded.

The monument was designed by sculptor Vojin Stojić, and unveiled in 1971.

The sinister shape of this monument, looking like an alien creature landed on top of the hill, on an isolated spot far from civilization, may strongly appeal to hunters of weird places. What further adds to the ‘mystery aura’ of the place is the fact that, while generally not in a bad shape and far from rotting, the monument appears somewhat forgotten – far from everything, little maintained or looked after.

Another impressive feature which is rarely captured by photographs, is that this object is about 90 ft tall! Access is via a poorly maintained stair, or by a little longer access walkway. Getting closer, you have a clearer impression of its gigantic size. The five concrete pinnacles composing the monument and making for a spiky whole from the distance, are actually separated from each other. The monument appears to change shape continuously as you walk around and under it, making it very interesting to watch from different angles.

Considering the remote, silent location, the late evening time of my visit, and the wind blowing in the trees, this was possible the most mysterious and magnetic of the spomeniks I could see on this trip!

Getting there and moving around

Due to its size and prominence, the Kosmaj spomenik was conceived as the focal point of an area for war commemorations, as well as for more widely themed social events. The area on top of the hill comprises a football field, a playground and parking areas. All this today is far less used than in the communist era, and its ‘ghost appearance’ adds greatly to the mystery aura of the place. The spomenik can be accessed along a one-way loop road, going around the top of the hill. Today you can freely get access to this road and get very close to the spomenik with your car. The monument can be finally reached via a poorly maintained, short concrete staircase, or via a longer walkway. I would say access is of course very easy. The location is also reasonably close to Belgrade, with a modern highway connecting the area with the Serbian capital city.

Avala, Serbia

This monument stands out of the crowd of the Yugoslavian spomeniks for it is not built to commemorate an event of WWII, but instead it remembers the fatal crash of a passenger flight, which occurred in approach to Belgrade. The year was 1964, and the flight was carrying 22 Soviet war veterans, who had participated in the ‘Liberation war’ of Yugoslavia against the Germans, from Moscow to a commemoration ceremony to be held the following day. The cause of the accident was never clearly determined, but it was likely due to a technical mishap.

The bronze spomenik you can see today was designed by sculptor Jovan Kratohvil on the very location of the crash, and inaugurated in 1965 on the first anniversary of the fatal accident. The names of the war veterans who perished are recorded on a stone.

This monument is more modest in size than most famous spomeniks, and the good quality of materials, its proportion and the great view over the hills leading to Belgrade – the famous Avala tower, with its famous panoramic deck, is less than a mile from here – make for a very nice and scenic ensemble. Furthermore, the mint state of conservation is really noteworthy.

Getting there and moving around

This spomenik can be reached along the same loop road going to the Avala WWI memorial and to the Avala tower with its panoramic view. There is a small parking nearby, and access is via a short staircase which is already part of the monument. The monument is well cared for, and the area is rather busy with local and international tourists.

Kadinjača, Serbia

The scenic spot where this extensive monumental ensemble has been arranged was the setting of one of the first battles between the partisan army – a group called the ‘Workers’ Battalion’ – and the German Wehrmacht. The latter was trying to reach the town of Užice, giving shelter to the top ranking staff of the Liberation army, including Marshal Tito. The battle was finally lost by the partisans in 1941, but they allowed the local population and the partisan commanders to flee the area, before the Germans troops poured in.

The area of the final fight was selected for a national monument as soon as 1952. A plain obelisk was put in place. Years later, in 1979, a huge monument designed by Miodrag Živković was unveiled at the presence of Tito, with a huge crowd attending.

The plan of the monument has its focus in the old prismatic monument of 1952. Around it, an interesting ensemble was added in 1979, with an amphitheater on one side, and two sets of granite and concrete abstract sculptures on the other.

A first group of sculptures, with very stylized human faces emerging from the sides and on top of the stones, constitute a first circle.

A second group is made of massive white slabs, culminating in one loosely resembling an armor pierced by a bullet. The installation is about 300 ft long, and the ‘pierced armor’ piece is about 45 ft tall. Yet the group is well proportioned and blends perfectly in the panorama around it.

The great state of conservation is testified by a modern multi-language placard with explanations about the history of the place. The spomenik is complemented by a museum and by a few weapons permanently displayed outside – themselves a memorial of the battle fought in the area.

This is a popular tourist destination, on the road going to nearby Visegrad (in Bosnia & Hercegovina), with its famous ancient Ottoman bridge.

Getting there and moving around

This spomenik is difficult to miss, visible from quite afar and perfectly accessible from a major road. Extensive parking ahead of the museum. Walking around does not pose any particular difficulty.

Tjentište, Bosnia & Hercegovina

Really an iconic masterpiece in the panorama of Yugoslav spomeniks, the monument in Tjentište benefits also from the fantastic location in the mountain range marking the border between Bosnia & Hercegovina and the republic of Montenegro. The proportions of the scenic views of this mountainous area are really more typical to the Americas than Europe!

This famous ‘winged’ monument is located on the area of a bloody battle fought in spring 1943, when the Axis force attacked some partisan groups commanded directly by Marshal Tito, in a deliberate attempt to kill their commander, hoping that in so doing they would succeed in undermining the rebel force. In the ensuing battle of Sutjeska around 7’000 besieged partisans were killed, but Tito finally was able to escape the area.

This battle acquired a special, almost mythological meaning in the history of communist Yugoslavia. A first commemoration stone – actually a mass grave for some thousands partisans – was put in place already in 1958, whereas the huge spomenik you see today, designed by Miodrag Živković, was unveiled in 1971 at the presence of Tito, who reportedly put much personal attention on the realization of this very monument.

The two massive concrete wings are enriched by human faces, only sketched and arranged so to form the roots of the wings themselves. Looking closely, you realize that the two monoliths are different from one another. Furthermore, their irregular, strongly 3D shape makes them look different depending on the point of view.

The monument is located half way on an ascending slope. Going further uphill you meet a termination point of the perspective, where the names of several partisan brigades are recorded. Looking down to the wings, you see them taking yet another shape!

This monument blends really well with the majestic scenery around. While being a sober and proportioned work of art, it is at the same time massive and sinister. The ensemble is really an artistic masterpiece, yet it bears some authentic ‘Yugoslav-communist style’ marker, making it a somewhat paradoxical ‘official communist ghost’!

On the side of the perspective leading to the winged monument, there is another spomenik – actually a ‘spomen-dom’ – which is known for hosting commemoration inscriptions and rare war-themed artistic frescoes, which were unfortunately damaged in the 1990s wars.

While in the years of Tito this was one of the most visited national monuments in the Country, its fame went down dramatically with the end of communism and with the following wars of secession, which struck heavily in this uninhabited valley reaching to ill-fated Sarajevo. With this in mind, the main perspective and the winged monument are surprisingly well kept, and they are gaining further popularity among relic-hunters, thanks to the undeniable charm of this spomenik. There are reportedly several other less prominent spomeniks in the area of the 1943 battle, including the ‘spomen-dom’, but unfortunately I had not the chance to investigate further about their state of conservation.

Getting and there and moving around

Getting there is possible along a national road going from Sarajevo to central Montenegro. Free parking is available at the base of the perspective leading to the winged monument. Getting closer to the latter involves climbing a flight of stairs. To get to the far end of the perspective you will need to climb another conspicuous flight of stairs. The winged spomenik is very well kept, and the area is really scenic – today it is a national park -, really justifying a detour from Sarajevo, or choosing this road to go to Montenegro from the Bosnian capital city.

Obadov Brijeg, Montenegro

This spomenik is an example of smaller designs, which constitute the majority of these monuments around former Yugoslavia.

The ‘bird-like’ monument in Obadov Brijeg, not far from the famous Orthodox monastery of Ostrog – built in the side of a mountain ridge nearby -, commemorates the victorious fight against the retreating Germans in fall 1944 of a coordinated force of local partisans troops, British artillery and Allied aircraft.

The spomenik was designed by the renowned architect Slobodan Vukajlović, and unveiled in 1974.

Unfortunately, as of today, this small monument appears little respected – mostly used as a roadside dump by travelers.

Getting there and moving around

Totally easy to reach if you are traveling north on the M18 road. The site is immediately visible when passing by, it is easily accessible thanks to a small rest area nearby, but unfortunately not well maintained and even dangerous to come close to, due to the garbage around it.

Golubovci, Montenegro

This monument by the local architect Vukota Tupa Vukotic was erected in 1974 close to the airport of Podgorica, the capital city of Montenegro, which received the name of Titograd in the years of communist Yugoslavia. This happened in recognition of its sacrificial role in the years of WWII, when after the Germans took over control of the area conquered by Italians, following the end of fascism in Italy in 1943, the city was stricken by heavy Allied aerial bombing, causing its almost complete destruction.

Podgorica was strategically located along a communication route going to the occupied territories of Albania and Greece, and for this reason the German Army was particularly present in the area – thanks to the airbase already in place in WWII. As a result, attrition with local partisans caused further casualties.

The monument commemorates the action of the partisans in the area. The abstract sculpture is sober and well proportioned. Besides the focal point – the sickle-shaped object in the middle of the construction – there are metal panels with a more traditional iconography, portraying battle scenes, as well as writings and tombstone-like stone panels.

The ensemble is located in residential area very close to the airport, and is actively maintained, so it has a sober, not derelict aspect.

Getting there and moving around

Very easy to reach along a major local road on the western side of the airport. Parking nearby is easy, and there are no major obstacles impeding access. The monument is well-kept and cared after.

Barutana, Montenegro

This spomenik honors the many losses experienced by the population from the area west of Podgorica in the Balcan wars, WWI and WWII. Three distinct monuments based on the same design are located on the side of an ascending path, leading to a double terrace on top of the monument.

Half of the double terrace features a full-scale amphitheater, with small granite seats forming a nice ensemble. The focal point of the double terrace is a torch-like sculpture about 30 ft tall, made of several separated adjoining components.

Between the torch-shaped sculpture and the amphitheater there is a stage. The object was created for meeting purposes, especially for schools but more generally for social events. Traces of the lighting for night performance can be still be seen.

This nice ensemble was completed in 1980 after a five-years-long construction work. The design is due to the local architect Svetlana Kana Radević.

Unfortunately, the place is not maintained any more, and while still in a relatively good shape – sufficiently far from downtown Podgorica to be spared misuse and vandalism – it is apparently falling into oblivion. This adds to the ‘communist ghost’ aura of the place, which you can perceive also in plain sunlight!

Getting there and moving around

This spomenik can be spotted from the road going from Podgorica to the coast. It is located immediately on the side of the road, but the only feature you see when driving by is the torch-like monument – vegetation is hiding the base of the monument. There are three small access roads, and once there you find a large parking area. The monument is not degraded – no garbage around – but it is clearly in need of restoration works. The stairway gently ascending to the top terraces are consumed and will be soon unserviceable.

Botun, North Macedonia

The Botun monument commemorates the struggle of the local partisans from all over the area, known as Debarca. This is located northeast of Ohrid, a very nice touristic town on the coast of a beautiful lake, close to the border with the Republic of Albania. The combatants from this area managed to liberate the area from the Italian-backed occupying forces in Spring 1943, well before Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943. The Wehrmacht then retook control of the region until 1944, when communist partisans finally repelled the Germans.

This rather unique episode is celebrated through a rather simple monument, apparently composed by two stone wings or flames, surrounding a central body bearing a commemorative inscription.

Unfortunately, the monument is in complete disrepair, the pavement basically disintegrating due to poor maintenance.

The overgrown vegetation hides luckily hides small deposits of garbage. Yet the location in the deep of a wild valley makes it potentially interesting as a stop along a major road.

Getting there and moving around

The Botun monument is easily reached along the E65, connecting Ohrid Airport to the north and Skopje. It is immediately on the side of the road, easier to access when driving south. There is small parking space at the level of the road where the small access roads depart to the monument apron. The site is not maintained, but not difficult to access or tour either.

Struga, North Macedonia

The spomenik in the town of Struga, on Ohrid Lake, designed by Vojislav Vasiljević, was delivered in 1974. It commemorates the more than 300 casualties in the Macedonian ranks from the Struga area during WWII. The area fell under control of the Italian-backed kingdom of Albania until mid-1943, when after a short independence it was occupied by the Germans.

The monument is rather simple, but differently from the majority of spomeniks it is located right in the city center. The composition, made of a small mound with access stairs and a white spike on top of it, is rather difficult to miss.

On one side of the monument, abstract in nature, a rather kitschy representation of an infantry charge has been added possibly in a later stage.

There is also a side commemoration panel with writings in Cyrillic. The monument has been reportedly refurbished in 2019, and its appearance is consequently good (apart from small vandal printing on the sides you can see in the pictures).

Getting there and moving around

Reaching the monument is possible by foot. It is located in the middle of the town, on Marshal Tito square. You may leave your car in one of the many parking areas around central Struga and walk along the river to get to the monument.

Oteševo, North Macedonia

Little is known of this monument, unveiled in 1973 on the side of a hill overlooking Prespansko Lake, on the border between North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. The architects are Jordan Grabul and Boro Josifovski.

The area appears to be a former touristic location for lakeshore activities. Today it is still very nice from a natural standpoint, yet the touristic centers – hotels, camping area, … – from the communist era are now closed, and make for a mysterious setting.

The spomenik resembles a flame, put on top of a stone stair. You can see an original inscription, as well as a star decoration in the base of the flame. On one side you can still find a flagpole.

The monument is in a so-so condition. It is sufficiently far from the road to having been spared major vandalism. The staircase is in a relatively good condition, and vegetation is not excessively overgrown. On the other hand, it is apparently not of great interest for the local population, which do not advertise it at all.

Getting there and moving around

The monument can be reached very easily from the road R1307 in Oteševo. The village is rather unapparent, and the monument is shrouded in the vegetation. You may notice the stair access from the road. Parking at the base of the stairs is difficult, but you may find a parking place ahead of the gate of the nearby camping site – as of 2019, apparently largely abandoned.

Kruševo, North Macedonia

This spomenik is possibly one of the best known in and outside of former Yugoslavia. This is somewhat paradoxical, as the monument came out with significant delay and after much controversy. On the other hand, maybe its fortune especially after the end of communism is partly due to its dedication – it was built to celebrate a huge uprising of the local population against the Turks in 1903, led by a local school teacher named Nikola Karev, settled in blood by an entire army of the Ottoman empire.

The lack of an immediate link to WWII events and communist-led struggles generated some criticism, but this actually came after some years were spent trying to find a compromise concerning the design itself. The architects, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, despite a proven communist faith, had a very hard time with the state commission who had issued the design.

The monument was finally unveiled in 1974, on a hill just out of the Krusevo village. It is composed of a gently ascending access road, with small monuments resembling broken chains. A first stop along the access road is a kind of open air crypt, with protruding cylinders bearing the names of places and people linked to resistance actions in the history of Macedonia. Apparently, no one from WWII years is included.

At the end of the road, on top of the hill, you can find a small open-air theater surrounded by curved walls decorated with colored tiles and sculptures.

The axis of the theater is aligned with the main body of the monument, a very peculiar construction, roughly spherical, with many tubular protrusions pointing radially from the surface. Whatever the intended meaning, it looks like a virus or something else from a biology book. Access to the sphere is through an inclined footbridge leading to a door.

During my visit, the door was unfortunately locked closed. Inside you can find the grave of Nikola Karev, as well as interesting wall reliefs.

Another interesting feature are the four stained glass windows. Colored with different palettes, the light produces nice reflections inside the spomenik. Luckily, something can be seen also from the outside in a sunny day.

One of the most celebrated spomeniks – even portrayed on local currency notes and recently photographed in international reviews – this item is maintained in perfect conditions as a national shrine, and social events like music festivals are held on its premises.

Getting there and moving around

Accessing this spomenik, aka ‘Macedonium’ is easy to the far end of the village of Krusevo. Thanks to its official role, it boasts a large parking ahead of the access road, with some explanations on dedicated panels. Beware of a big museum just on the other side of the parking – it is dedicated to a local music star prematurely died in an accident, it is not linked to the spomenik.

 

Communist Highlights in Prague and the Czech Republic

Czechoslovakia had existed as an independent state since the end of WWI and the dissolution of the Austrian Empire. However, this small yet economically advanced province was soon to be caught right in the middle of a storm which insisted on central Europe until the 1990s, at which time this country finally gained its true independence.

Back in the Thirties, Czechoslovakia was forcibly annexed to the Third Reich as a result of the Munich Agreement in 1938. This event can be seen a major destabilizing step in Hitler’s foreign relations, clearly showing that the situation was deteriorating fast in central Europe.

Following the troublesome years of Nazi rule, this region was captured by Soviet and US troops at the end of the war. A new republic was founded, but the local communist party was very well organized, so Czechoslovakia shared the destiny of many neighbor countries which had been occupied by the Red Army in the final stage of the war. Backed by Stalin, a communist coup d’état in 1948 led to the establishment of a Soviet-style dictatorship, which was to last until 1989, making Czechoslovakia a Soviet satellite country.

Despite the relatively small size on the map, Czechoslovakia played a significant role in the economy of the Eastern Bloc. This country had a well established tradition in the production of weapons, metal hardware and machinery. Its soil is rich in Uranium. Furthermore, the forward position on the border with non-communist Western Germany and Austria further raised its strategic significance. When a secession from Moscow was tried by the local communist government, led by reformer Alexander Dubcek in 1968 – a phase known as the ‘Prague Spring’ -, the USSR reacted with all its military might, staging a full-scale invasion of the country by land and air, overturning the high ranks of the unreliable Czechoslovakian government, and putting this valuable region under a stricter communist leadership.

Clearly, the end of the communist dictatorship is today duly celebrated as a historical achievement both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia – respectively the western and eastern portions of Czechoslovakia, which peacefully split in 1993. The more than 40 years of struggle against Soviet rule constitute the theme of several interesting permanent exhibitions, but these are not the only witnesses of those troubled times. More tangible relics – all open to the public – are former border posts with former West Germany, a one-of-a-kind original communist prison camp for political prisoners, as well as some pieces of architectures and bunkers from the Cold War age.

This post is dedicated to these highlights, all to be found in the region between Prague and the border with Bavaria, in todays Czech Republic. Photographs were collected on a short trip in summer 2018.

Navigate this post – click on links to scroll

Sights

Museum of Communism, Prague

Far from a cheesy description of everyday life in the years of the Cold War, or an inaccurate account of the history of the communist plague as a social phenomenon, this permanent exhibition takes you in detail along the history of Czechoslovakia in the years immediately before WWII, when it basically lost its independence to the Germans, and going on to 1989, when with the so-called Velvet Revolution Czechoslovakia abandoned the Soviet sphere of influence and overthrew the communist dictatorship.

The exhibition features an equilibrated mixture of original artifacts – paintings, statues, memorabilia,… -, photographs, models, dioramas and explicative panels.

Interestingly, speaking of the Thirties and the imposed annexation to the Third Reich, you can see models of the border forts along the former German (now Polish) border. These are covered in this dedicated post.

The history of the anti-fascist operations, and of the role of the communist party in them, are thoroughly analyzed, and so are the decisive years immediately following the war. It is recalled how this nation was partly invaded by US troops, hence it was contested as a pure-Soviet conquer. A short-lived free Czechoslovakian republic was founded, which fell under communist control, and in the years of Stalin, with a Soviet military presence in the country, this meant the end of any independence from the USSR.

Similar to East Berlin, Prague ended up to host a huge monument to Stalin. This was built on top of a hill facing the city, on the north bank of the river. It was suddenly blown after the death of the Soviet dictator, leaving an empty esplanade which can be still seen today (see a section below).

The establishment of a communist rule since the start meant the implementation of brutal repressive measures, including prison camps for political opponents, which were largely employed as forced laborers all over the territory of the state, especially for mining activities. Preventive imprisonment, extorted confessions and executions were typical to the years of Stalin. Even the troops who had come in contact with the western Allies during the war were exonerated and imprisoned, to perfectly guarantee the stability of the communist leadership of the army. A detailed account of this little-know, large-scale repressive activity is documented also by means of reconstructed interrogation rooms, as well as spy gear used by the Czechoslovakian communist political police, the StB.

A related interesting chapter is that of the border shared with neighbor western countries. Similar to the German Democratic Republic (see this post), the border with West Germany and Austria was heavily guarded to stop those who wanted to flee the country. A fence of many kilometers was erected and modernized on more instances. A number of citizens were sent to prison or even lost their lives trying to escape to the West. More on this can be found today on the border with Germany (see a section below).

A significant area is devoted to the wannabe-reformer Alexander Dubcek and the 1968 ‘Prague Spring’. The aggressive Soviet reaction to the experiment, backed by the new Brezhnev leadership, provided an example for other Soviet satellite countries seeking for independence. The invasion of Czechoslovakia, called ‘Operation Danube’, was carried out as a surprise attack, paralyzing all urban infrastructures by quickly landing troops and material with a well-organized airlift on the nation’s major civil airports, including Prague and Brno. Simultaneously, land troops of many countries of the Eastern Bloc crossed the border and rapidly occupied all military installations. Guerrilla actions took place especially in Prague, but it was soon clear that an action so massive could not be counteracted by the sole Czechoslovakian forces.

The Soviet aggression cleared any doubt about the attitude of the new leadership of the USSR. It was generally condemned even by the communist parties of the western world, but this was not helpful for Czechoslovakia, which could not overthrow the re-established Soviet-style dictatorship until the almost simultaneous collapse of the communist regimes bound to the USSR in 1989.

Getting there and moving around

This museum is an excellent resource and a starting point for gaining an insight on the history of Czechoslovakia from the late 1930s to the 1990s. A general knowledge of the Cold War history may help to better collocate the facts reported in the exhibition on the world stage, yet even if this is the first museum of the kind you may visit, it can be extremely interesting.

It is located in central Prague, perfectly accessible with a walk in the beautiful central district from the majority of the hotels. Visiting may easily take 2 hours for an interested subject. All panels and captions are in double language, Czech and English. Website with full information here.

Nuclear Bunker for Civil Defense, Prague

Following the escalation of the nuclear stockpiles in the US and USSR, countermeasures to resist a nuclear attack were implemented in many countries. Besides specific training for both troops and civilians, shelters were built for government agencies, and for the population of most crowded areas. While typically far from sufficient to save even a minimal part of the population in case of a nuclear attack, these structures were nonetheless rather extensive and sophisticated. Especially in central Europe, within reach of nuclear missiles from the start of the rocket age (see this post), nuclear bunkers for civil defense were serious structures, today standing as tangible witnesses of the Cold War (see this post).

In Prague, the system for civil defense was implemented in the form of a series of bunkers around the city center, started in the early 1950s. Over the following decades a network was created comprising the underground railway system and several metro stops, which  similar to West Berlin, could be turned into nuclear bunkers providing shelter, decontamination gear and supplies for hundreds of people for several weeks.

Of this comprehensive system only a small part can be visited today. The bunker in the Parukarka district, northeast of the city center, can be accessed from a distinctive concrete gate – today covered in ignorant graffiti – in the side of a hill. Right behind the external gate you can find a massive tight door, capable of resisting to a nuclear blast, and providing access to a stair well, leading deep underground.

From the bottom of the stairs, you are led through a network of tunnels, originally intended for storing supplies and as living quarters for refugees.

The toilet is still operative today. An emergency room with original medical tools has been reconstructed.

An interesting exhibition showcases a beautiful collection of gas masks, dosimeters, posters with emergency survival procedures and propaganda items.

A room where the main tunnel splits in multiple branches gives access to a decontamination facility, a security communication post, and an area where a small exhibition on the Cold War has been placed.

The latter includes sample mass-produced goods originally stored in the bunker, maps, and full nuclear and chemical protection suits and masks.

You can also try putting on a mask, and take up a rifle for a weird selfie!

Getting there and moving around

The bunker can be reached a few tram stops from the main railway station. The entrance is located next to the southwestern corner of Parukarka park on Prokopova alley, a block away from Hotel Olsanka. However, the gate is usually closed, and there is no booth or visitor center there. The bunker can be visited by appointment only, or on a regular basis by taking the special-themed communist tour of Prague (see website here). The latter was my option. This tour is offered in English and maybe other languages, and will take you on a walk to a few places usually portrayed in the historical pictures from the days of ‘Operation Danube’ of 1968, and during the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The starting point is close to the Clock Tower, on the central square of historical Prague.

The highlight of the multi-hour tour is the civil defense bunker, which makes the tour appealing. For the rest, except for little information, the tour is not excessively interesting, especially if you have already a good knowledge of the history of the Cold War and of Czechoslovakia at that time. It may the depend on the guide – mine was a relatively young man, who albeit prepared, did not seem to be able to give answers to more detailed or technical questions. Furthermore, the time spent inside the bunker is limited, and very scant explanations are provided about the exhibitions and artifacts on display there. Time is not enough for good photographs. The website of the bunker, for more info or for booking a private visit, is here.

Soviet-Related Buildings and Monuments, Prague

A few buildings in Prague have a historical significance bound to the Cold War, either for the role they had in the years of the communist dictatorship, or for the fact they were erected in Soviet style.

A first example is the headquarter of the StB, the political police of Czechoslovakia, similar to the KGB, Stasi or Securitate of other communist countries. This is located in central Prague, and occupies a building which had been previously built for another purpose.

To the northwest of the historical district, on the northern bank of the river, you can find a prominent example of Soviet architecture – Hotel International. This was designed in the years of Stalin, and this is reflected in the typical Stalinist tower architecture (see this post). It had been intended as a building of the department of defense, to host high-ranking military staff. It never covered this role, and after the construction years, lasting 1952-1956, it was inaugurated as a luxury hotel, with the same name it bears today.

After the end of communism in Europe, the hotel has been refurbished, returning the exteriors to the original appearance. The star on top the central spire is original too. The frieze features hammers and sickles, as well as other examples of typical communist iconography.

Today a rather unapparent square with a nice view of the old city, the base of the monument to Stalin with the giant staircases leading to it from the water level can be found on the northern bank of the river. This area is today partly degraded, and used for temporary art installations. Only pictures from the time allow to get an idea of the monster size of the sculpture group once standing there, with Stalin and other folks overlooking the city.

The monument was blown after Stalin was condemned by the Communist Party of the USSR, soon after his death.

Among the relatively few statues and prominent buildings dating back to the years of communist dictatorship is a couple of cosmonauts. This can be found in the southern periphery of the city, immediately out of the metro station Haje. The neighborhood is mainly residential, dating from Soviet times. Notwithstanding the general decency of the area, these two astronauts are somewhat forgotten, close to an overgrown hedge.

Getting there and moving around

The mentioned communist architectural highlights in Prague are somewhat scattered.

The StB headquarters are located on the corner between Bartolomějská Ulice and Na Perstyne, at the very center of the historical district. The former Stalin monument can be reached climbing uphill from the northern end of Chechuv Most bridge, a short walk from the historical district. Besides the questionable interest for what remains of the monument, climbing up is advisable at least for the exceptional view you can enjoy from the balcony.

The Hotel International is located further north of the city center, where Koulova alley meets Cinska road. The nice residential area is served by a number of tram and bus stops, but reaching may be easier by car. Clearly, you can also elect to stay at the hotel.

The two cosmonauts can be found in the southern peripheral district Haje, just outside of the homonym metro stop, close to a larger bus stop area. Again, reaching is less time consuming by car.

Vojna Prison Camp, Pribram

A one-of-a-kind memorial in the panorama of former communist-led countries is preserved just south of the small town of Pribram, about 40 miles southwest of Prague. This is a full scale prison camp for forced laborers, instituted by the communist dictatorship in the years of Stalin, back in 1947. The prisoners of this camp were interned only for political reasons. Together with other similar installations, it supplied workforce for the extraction of uranium ore from mines nearby. The number of inmates increased steadily until the early 1960s, reaching the order of 1,500, until a series of amnesties were promulgated and prison camps were closed in Czechoslovakia.

The camp went on to be operated as a military depot, and reopened as a national memorial in the late 1990s.

Close to the entrance, which is via the original gate in the outer fence of the camp, a former industrial building has been substituted by a modern building with roughly the same shape, hosting a conference center and the visitor center. When on a self-guided tour, you are advised to start your visit with an exhibition on the history of the Czechoslovakian prison camps, hosted in the former guard quarters. The exhibition provides models, pictures and quick numbers to get an idea of the proportion of the repression and internment of political prisoners, as well as of the forced labor system set up by the communist leadership.

A memorial to those who perished as a result of political repression and imprisonment in the area of Pribram concludes this part.

The partly original and partly reconstructed buildings on display include a complete external perimeter, a prison and a rigor cell.

Inside an inner guarded perimeter, a few barracks for the inmates have been reconstructed or refurbished, and are used to showcase temporary and permanent exhibitions. One of great interest at the time of my visit described in detail the days of the liberation from the Nazi occupation – US troops briefly took over control of the area, and they met the Soviet army nearby Pribram.

There are also service buildings for the guards, with a small movie theater and a canteen.

Another interesting part is the original emergency room and clinic. The face of Stalin in the doctor’s room is particularly disturbing. Besides the generally harsh living conditions, illnesses and injuries typical to mine works were rather common. Inexperience of the forced laborers clearly added to the injury rates.

In a building to the far end of the camp you can find an exhibition about mining activities in the area and uranium extraction in Czechoslovakia, which represented an asset of this country in the eyes of the USSR.

Getting there and moving around

The prison camp is opened as a national memorial. It can be reached by car along highway N.4 in 30 minutes from central Prague in the small village of Lesetice, immediately south of Pribram. There are opening times, but you can visit either on a self-guided basis or with a guide. I was not given the option of a guided tour in English though, so I enjoyed a self-guided tour. There is some paneling in English, but not extensively covering all parts of the installation. Access to the rigor cell is only possible with a guide, but you may join a guided tour only for that small part of the exhibition, just to get access.

A complete visit on a self-guided basis may take about 1.5 hours for the interested subject, including time for taking all the pictures.

Please note they accept only cash. Website in English with full information here.

Iron Curtain Museum, Rozvadov

This atypical museum is located right on the border with Germany, between the Czech village of Rozvadov and the German town of Frankenreuth, Bavaria. Back in the years of the Cold War, the highway E50 today crossing the border nearby did not exist, and this border post was a major checkpoint on the line between the Eastern Bloc and the West.

The museum is deceptively located in the basement of the gas station immediately cross the border on the Czech side. The gas station itself used to be the custom and border control station, as you can see from historical pictures inside the museum.

The museum is constituted of a collection of photographs and artifacts. The exhibits cover roughly two themes – communism in Czechoslovakia and the Cold War as a global confrontation.

Red banners, small sculptures, photographs and propaganda posters have been collected from various locations in Czechoslovakia. These include official portraits of the communist presidents of Czechoslovakia, and memorabilia belonging to their offices.

A good collection of weapons and communication gear belonging to border guards and local troops of both sides of the Iron Curtain is also on display. Communist-themed commemorative medals and dinnerware are part of the collection.

The part on the global confrontation is smaller, and include photographs from sister museums in other countries including the US, a small documentation on the history of nuclear tests and the nuclear stockpiles in the Cold War period.

On the outside, a few vehicles of the former border guards can be found (no pictures due to heavy rain).

Getting there and moving around

This nice small museum is surely worth visiting for the interested subject, even though it does not concentrate much on the history of the local border post. The website in Czech language can be found here, basic visiting info can be easily found with some Google translation. It can be reached by car on the road connecting Frankenreuth, Bavaria, and Rozvadov, immediately cross the border on the Czech side. Signs to the entrance can be found around the local gas station. Entry is behind the building of the gas station. Visiting on a self-guided basis will not take more than 45 minutes for the interested subject.

Please note that they accept only cash.

Museum of the Border Guard, Rozvadov

This museum is actually a preserved former barrack of the border guards. Not only it looks like the building is still being operated, it actually is, albeit only for reunions of the former guards and local ranger corps, which today keep it open.

Thanks to this special condition, the place is very vivid and makes for an extremely interesting visit. Besides the sleeping quarters, you can find a series of rooms with rifles and technical material, including radio and communication equipment.

If you are lucky, the guide will give you a demonstration of how parts of this technical gear work.

A former class room/meeting room hosts a reconstruction of the fences which used to run all along the border with West Germany and Austria. The level of control was totally similar to the one implemented between the two German Republics (see this post). In the same room there is a small collection of weapons you can touch.

In a room close by the entrance a sentinel was always keeping the assigned sector of the border under control. The various protective layers prevented anybody from escaping the communist territory. Besides watchtowers along the border line, when touched the innermost fence triggered an alarm in the sentinel’s room. This appeared as a mark on a specially designed detector, which could tell with good approximation where the fugitive was trying to cross the border. This would trigger the other guards, who would scramble out and seek for him. This sophisticated piece of machinery was manufactured in the GDR…

Getting there and moving around

Reaching the place can be tricky, for there are no signs leading to it. From the road 605 in Rozvadov, follow the indications to Casino Admiral. This is located on a road climbing gently uphill from the 605. Going further on the same road, you will reach a dead-end, and a group of shabby barracks after about .3 miles. These must have been all service buildings and barracks for the border guards. One of the barracks is the museum. The exact GPS coordinates are (49.673994, 12.545367).

Information on the opening times can be found from the website of the town administration (on the right hand side of the web page).

Opening times are extremely limited. You are followed on your visit by one of the guards, some of them can speak a little English, sufficient for making the visit extremely interesting. There is no institutional ticket, but they will ask for a voluntary cash offer. Visiting may take about 30-40 minutes.

Communist Relics in Bucharest

Most travel agencies selling trips to Romania agree on the fact that Bucharest is surely not the best this big Country in the easternmost part of Europe has to offer in terms of archaeological or historical significance, nature or art.

Actually the town, originally founded in the 15th century, is today mostly made of modern buildings – meaning it was extensively redesigned and rebuilt in the 1980s. This happened as a result of a huge earthquake in 1977, killing thousands in Bucharest and destroying or damaging many buildings. The earthquake, and the will of the most famous Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, triggered the realization of an incredible architectural master plan, centered on the huge House of the Republic – the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon – which in turn called for the demolition of a good 30% of the existing buildings in Bucharest, including churches and many historical highlights.

This conspicuous palace stands out as one of the world’s most imposing examples of communist architecture, thus making for an interesting destination for those interested in the ‘heritage of Communism’ in Europe. Well, the Palace of the Parliament – as it is called today – is so imposing that everybody coming to Bucharest will probably spot it and pay a visit.

But Bucharest has more to offer for those interested in the traces of the luckily bygone era of communist leadership.

Opened to the public in 2016, the private residence of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Helena, both executed on Christmas day in 1989 during the quick but very violent revolution which led to the end of communism in Romania, can be fully visited today as a museum. Built soon after Ceausescu took control of the already established communist regime in 1965, it is an interesting example of eclectic architecture from the 1960s, designed by the Israeli architect Aron Grimberg-Solari. All the original furniture is on display, and many items belonging to the most hated couple in Romanian history can be admired as well.

As usual in communist Countries in Europe, before 1989 the National Military Museum received much attention, growing up to host a collection of weapons, tanks and aircraft of considerable size. The place, located close to central Bucharest, is surely worth a visit especially for those looking for unusual Soviet weaponry!

Another easy-to-find communist-themed site is the Palace of the Free Press, the only imposing building in Stalinist style in Bucharest, built in the early 1950s for the propaganda-press. A big statue of Lenin used to seat prominently ahead of the façade. It was removed in 1990, to celebrate the end of the dictatorship. Many emblems of communism – hammers, sickles and stars – decorate the walls of this now mostly unused relic.

Finally, the very central palace of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which since the 1950s until 1989 was occupied by the Romanian Communist Party, is a distinctive example of rationalist architecture from the late 1930s, with much to tell about Cold War history. It was from a balcony of this palace that Nicolae Ceausescu gave his famous last speech, just days before he was arrested and shot (see this post).

This post is about all these sights. Photographs were taken in June 2017.

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Sights

House of the Republic – now Palace of the Parliament

No words can describe the size and bulkiness of this building. Together with the Bulevardul Unirii – the boulevard leading to the front façade – with its residential and ancillary office buildings clustered around the palace, each the size of a big shopping mall,  the ensemble is really unique even for the usual pomp of communist Countries. Everything here was built in the 1980s on the design of the young Anca Petrescu, who at that time was in her thirties.

From the boulevard to the square ahead of the façade you can easily spend some time trying to find a good way to photograph this building.

The façade is not flat, and this makes it not excessively imposing inspite of the real width and height. Furthermore, a terraced garden, gently ascending from the street level to that of the front entrance above, somewhat reduces the perceived height of the building.

Access for the public is from the northern side. From there the palace is possibly more imposing, for the façade comes down abruptly to the street level, differently from the front.

The inside is by far the least convincing part of the design. Here you clearly perceive the ‘megalomaniac’ attitude of the Ceausescu, who asked for a building with more than 600 rooms, for which no realistic function could be imagined at that time – nor can be guessed today. You can see a succession of halls in diverse styles, some of which may find a place in an old railway station, some in a congress center, others in a luxury hotel, some in Buckingham Palace, a few in a church, and so on… A collection of stately rooms, some of them really immense, all lacking any focal point – a throne, a dinner table, a work of art. As a matter of fact, this severely oversized building is used today only for a minimal part as a governmental building. Most of the rooms are used for congresses, marriages, company meetings and international summits. But you clearly feel the place is basically uninhabited, and except for the crowds of tourists, mostly unused.

As a part of the tour you can get access to the balcony on the front façade, from which you can enjoy a nice view of the city, and in particular of the perspective created by the boulevard ahead of the palace.

All in all, in my view this palace is much more interesting from the outside, where you can appreciate the size and good proportion of the master plan, and the interesting particulars of the late-classicist communist style. The inside is where you perceive most the unsuitability of the palace for any practical function. You may be stricken by the number and proportion of the rooms and the plenty of high quality materials used for construction and decoration, but you may also get bored soon by the endless sequence of unused – and unusable – halls, corridors and flights of stairs.

Getting there and moving around

For a western tourist taxi is the most efficient and cost-effective way for moving around in Bucharest. Depending on where you are taken first – the north entrance or the front façade – you may choose to take a walk around the building, or a part of it, before or after your tour of the inside. Visiting inside is only possible through a guided tour. Reservation is totally recommended, for this is probably the most visited attraction in town. Furthermore, if you are put in a waiting list you may be forced to stay close to the ticket office in the basement for more than you might want, with nothing to see and do. You can make a reservation through their website or ask your hotel to do it for you. A day in advance may be enough, for entries are at high frequency. Security with metal detector is part of the treatment. For taking pictures inside you need to buy a permit at a small fee. The visit inside takes really long – more than an hour – and it may turn out very boring especially for children, for there are no ‘highlights’ inside.

Palatul Primaverii – The Private Residence of the Ceausescu in Bucharest

The name of the residence translates into ‘Spring Palace’. It was built in the mid-1960s when Nicolae Ceausescu came to power. It was intended from the beginning as a private residence for the dictator, his wife and their three children. Differently from the Palace of the Republic, it is not absurdly sized especially for todays standard, about the size of an average Hollywood villa.

From a historical standpoint this place is very interesting, for as an official residence of the president of Romania, it hosted meetings with leaders and politicians of many foreign Countries, most notably Richard Nixon, the first American president to pay a state visit to Romania. Furthermore, this house has a lot of typical ‘Cold War style’ features. It was not publicized at all inside Romania, where only a restricted group knew of its existence before the revolution in 1989-90. Coming close was made impossible by a guarded perimeter with a few checkpoints all around a large area of the town, where embassies and notable members of the Communist Party had their residences. Inside there are an underground bunker for protection and an access to a network of tunnels leading to the palace of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and other decision centers in Bucharest. The villa was taken during the revolution, but anything was left basically as it was – the intruders, who in 1989 were suffering from a famine plus from heat, electricity and water starvation, took away all the food.

The eclectic style of the building, integrally designed by the same architect, is also an interesting specimen of luxury architecture from the 1960s.

On the ground floor, the first rooms are the studio of the dictator, where most important meetings were held, with the walls covered with wooden panels. Then an ancillary room with a chess table, a central lobby with a fountain and stairs leading to the upper floor and to the basement, a large drawing room and a dining room can be visited close by. On the same floor are also the private rooms of one of the two sons of the Ceausescu couple. From the main drawing room it is possible to reach an inner garden with peacocks – not the original exemplars, but Nicolae loved these birds, which used to live here also before 1990.

In the basement it is possible to find a winery and a nice middle-ages-themed, count-Dracula-style canteen with a fireplace. A private movie theater seating about 30 is part of this area. The projectors in the back – Philips, not from the Eastern Bloc… – together with an archive of rare movies have been carefully cataloged, and are now part of the inventory, similarly to every item in the house.

Nicolae Ceausescu was born to a family of workers, and was a shoemaker in his youth. After he came to power he progressively adopted a more and more luxurious lifestyle, but he could never relinquish his very humble origins. The room he reportedly favored most in his fancy villa, and where he liked to spend most of the time, was a passage in the basement, with some simple chairs, a small table, and a very small light close to the roof. Some speculate this was the setting which mostly resembled the house he had lived in as a kid. Another explanation may be a secret armored door in this room, giving direct access to the bunker…

The bunker with a crisis room is where Ceausescu operated in the tumultuous days of December 1989. He finally decided to try to reestablish power with a speech which turned out to be his famous last public appearance, a few days before he was arrested and executed. Here was the entrance to the network of tunnels leading to other palaces in Bucharest – today it has been bricked up. A walk along a service corridor in the underground allows to have a glance to the many service rooms in this area – including a laundry, a room for an independent power supply system and much more.

Another strange ‘private passage’ is where a gallery of many portraits of the Ceausescu can be found, together with hunt trophies and hunt-related gifts from some African leaders and close friends of the Romanian dictator. Nicolae was reportedly not good as a hunter, but he liked to nourish the idea of being so, and he was often photographed with trophies he rarely caught himself. Paintings portraying the couple were already there when the Ceausescu used to live in the house.

In a wing on the top floor are the private rooms of the two other children of the Ceausescu.

In another wing are the apartments of Helena and Nicolae, with a bedroom, study, bathroom and dressing room for each of them.

The separate bedrooms were not used much, for they used to sleep in a common bedroom with a nice balcony and a view of the front garden.

There was also another common bathroom, lavishly decorated, which was reportedly used more often by the couple. The same is true for a smaller dressing room with wardrobes for both, which was typically used by the couple. Here and in the main wardrobe close by it is possible to find the many dresses belonging to the Ceausescu. The smell of old fabric here is really horrible, but the sight of their clothes adds much to the perception of this place as the ‘lion’s lair’.

In a third wing of the top floor it is possible to find possibly the most beautiful room of the house, which is basically a ‘garden-room’, with plants and a nice peacock-themed mosaic wall and fountain – a nice example of decoration from the 1960s.

Descending again to the ground floor you can continue your visit with the huge wellness area, with a sauna, Turkish bath, infra-red lamp, equipment for various wellness and beauty treatments – some of them were probably fancy in those years, but now they seem exotic and more like old-style medical stuff… There is also a barber shop.

Finally, the indoor swimming pool. This is very big and deep even for todays standard, and the zodiac-themed mosaic decoration of the walls is luminous and really gorgeous. There is direct access to the garden through a porch.

You can access the inner garden and reach the front entrance of the property walking along a nice covered passage.

All in all, this is possibly the site I liked most during my stay in Bucharest. I would surely recommend a visit for the great historical and architectural significance of the place. The place is very authentic, and you can perceive it distinctly from the many personal items scattered around the house and from the appearance of the rooms, which have come almost unaltered from the end of the 1980s.

Getting there and moving around

The Spring Palace is in the northeastern quarter of central Bucharest, in what is probably one of the nicest parts of the town, with high-level residential buildings, most of them built very recently, foreign embassies, well-kept parks and schools. If you are visiting the area of Parcul Herastrau or Parcul Bordei you may choose to come to the mansion with a nice walk. Otherwise the best way to come here is with the usual taxi. Visiting is possible only with a guide. You can opt for a regular group tour or a personal tour. The latter was my choice. You can book it in advance (one day in advance in my case) through their website. The guide was very kind and knowledgeable, and the 1.5 hour visit really interesting and full of details.

National Military Museum

This museum is composed of two main parts. The permanent exhibition in the main building covers the military history of Romania from the first settlements to the present day. For those with an interest for the complicated history of this Country, the relationship with the Ottoman and Russian Empires, the foundation of the Kingdom of Romania in the 19th century, its role in both World Wars and the advent of communism, this museum offers much valuable information. Little is said of what happened during and after the 1989 revolution. There are just scant signs in English, and the Soviet-style of the exhibition is a bit outdated. Anyway there is much stuff of interest to be checked up.

Outside to the back of this building it is possible to visit a rich collection of weapons, ranging in time, type and size. A conspicuous part is composed by cannons and howitzers, some of them mounted on railway trolleys.

There are of course more ancient cannons, from the 18th and early 19th centuries, stored very close to some torpedoes and naval mines.

A focal point of the exhibition is a 2P16 Soviet tactical missile system with movable launcher. Also on display there is what appears to be a version of a SCUD-A system in fully erected position.

On the outside there is also a collection of tanks, radio equipment, a Soviet SA-2 anti-aircraft missile and a MiG-15. Some of the cannons are ‘made in Germany’.

The ancillary buildings host a collection of uniforms, coaches and a small collection of aircraft and engines for aviation, including the reentry vehicle of the only Soyuz mission flown by a Romanian astronaut.

Taken alone, this outdoor collection is much interesting for everybody, and especially for the kids. I would recommend also a visit to the inside for more history-minded people.

Getting there and moving around

The museum is located less than a mile from the Palace of the Parliament. The neighborhood, while totally central and safe, is nothing special, so I suggest going there by taxi for saving time. Visiting of the entire complex may take 1-1.5 hours on a self-guided basis.

Casa Scinteii – now House of the Free Press

This is the only building designed in the style of Stalin’s classicism in Bucharest, and it looks like a cousin of the skyscrapers in Moscow and other similar towers in Europe (see this post). The name refers to ‘Scinteia’ – meaning ‘spark’ – the official propaganda newspaper of the Romanian Communist Party, which had its headquarter here. Ready by the mid-1950s, the building was placed at the end of a majestic perspective going from the triumphal arch through a park directly to the statue of Lenin – removed in 1990 – and to this building.

Today a nice modern monument has replaced Lenin, and the area, quickly reachable from the airport, is among the most sought after by international companies. Many new buildings have been built in the neighborhood, making the contrast with this partly abandoned Soviet relic even more striking.

From a distance the building looks imposing but well proportioned. At a closer look, it reveals its communist soul through many hammer and sickle insignia, together with some stars in the decoration.

Getting closer you realize that there are bushes on the roof, many shutters are stuck halfway down, the windows are covered in dust, everything indicating a state of partial disrepair. The building is probably looking for a new owner, but the excessive size and the inconvenient heritage it bears perhaps are making things more difficult.

Getting there and moving around

Located to the north of the city center, close to the expo and on the northwestern corner of Parcul Herastrau. You can reach the area with a pleasant walk from the triumphal arch of WWI (Arcul de Triumf) or through the park, or you can get directly to it with a taxi. The place is mainly closed and anyway not open to the public, but you can have a walk around freely.

Palace of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

This palace, completed in the early 1940s, hosted many institutions during its history, including the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, with the executive office of the leader of the Party. It is located in the totally central Piata Revolutiei – Revolution Square – in front of the former royal palace, now hosting the museum of fine arts.

The place was the central stage of the revolution in late 1989. The balcony on the front façade of the building is where Nicolae and Helena Ceausescu tried a final move to regain control over the Romanian people. Here they faced the public for the last time, and for the first time they were openly contested. The video recordings of that historical moment, together with the similarly famous videos of the Berlin Wall torn down, stand out as vivid symbols of the end of the communist era in Europe.

What followed the last speech was a short period of confusion, with the armed forces and the revolutionary faction shooting in the streets. The Ceausescu fled the building by helicopter, only to be arrested the following day, rapidly put on trial and executed soon after. More than one thousand lost their lives struggling to definitively push dictatorship to an end. Vivid traces of the fight can be seen on the façade of this building, in the form of bullet holes above some of the windows.

Getting there and moving around

The place is totally central, and easy to reach by walk if you are staying in one of the many international hotels in central Bucharest. Visiting inside is not possible, but you can come very close to all sides of the palace.