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Gerhardt mill, Volgograd

The ruins of the Gerhardt mill are another reminder of the Great Patriotic War in Volgograd. The mill stands on Sovetskaya Street, next to the museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad". The mill was destroyed by two high-explosive bombs in September 1942. Since the building was on the way to the Volga, it served as a strategic object, which the Soviet soldiers defended as a fortress, and was subjected to constant shelling for 58 days. After the war, it was decided not to restore the mill and leave it as a memorial. Now the mill - part of the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad.

The flour mill complex was built here in 1899 by businessmen Gerhardt, Volga Germans (the name “Gerhardt” can be seen on the end walls of the building). Already in 1900, the mill began to work. After the fire of 1907, when only the framework remained from the mill, the building was rebuilt from vibration-proof reinforced concrete. Since then, the complex has turned from a flour mill into a whole industrial plant: a fish smokehouse, a creamery, a bakery appeared here. The work of the workshops was ensured by an electric generator that was advanced for that time. The robust construction of the mill subsequently played an important role in the defense of the building.

After the revolution, the mill was nationalized. She began to bear the name of the Bolshevik Konstantin Grudinin. The industrial complex worked until the very moment when bombs hit the building. Workers were evacuated, and the building became one of the nodes of the defense of Stalingrad.

Until the 1990s, excursions were held at the mill, but for the sake of safety, they were canceled.

Next to the ruins of the mill is a smaller copy of the fountain "Children's dance".

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