Hero Cities: War films to be projected on the front of Manezh building

The images of a struggling Stalingrad, Moscow holding off the Germans, Leningrad under siege and Murmansk rattled by the Luftwaffe’s bomb attacks will be projected on the front of the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall building every evening between 1 and 11 May. Projection (video) mapping technology will enable the stories of nine hero cities which held out against the enemy and made an extraordinary contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War [1941–1945] to be shown outdoors, by taking advantage of the building’s architectural features that the images are projected on. Projectors and light-emitting devices will be used for this. Each mini film will have a music and sound accompaniment that will give viewers the illusion that they are eye-witnesses of the events.

“The shows will be dedicated to Moscow, St Petersburg (Leningrad), Volgograd (Stalingrad), Kerch, Sevastopol, Novorossiisk, Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk,” said Nikolai Gulyayev, Head of the Department of Sport and Tourism. “Powerful projectors will be used to show scenes from the cities’ heroic past on the front of the Manezh building. Viewers will see the ruins of destroyed buildings, columns of armoured vehicles on the march, as well as artillery guns fire salvos, all looking quite real at that.”

The evening light show will last two hours from 9 pm until 11 pm. It will begin with a scene showing Soviet troops countering night air raids on Moscow. First, the Kremlin’s dark silhouette will appear on the improvised screen and then projectors will go on and Soviet anti-aircraft guns will start shooting down German Junkers and Heinkel planes. After that, light effects will turn the front of the Manezh building into snow-covered blocks, with a column of T-34 tanks rumbling by as a reminder of the 1941 parade on Red Square. The parade, despite the hardships at the time, was held on 7 November amid the Battle of Moscow, that was getting increasingly fierce, to show the whole world that Moscow was not giving up and morale in the Army remained high. All scenes will be accompanied by the narration of those events. 

The next story is dedicated to the defence of Leningrad. It will start with the display of the Leningrad skyline at night dominated by the spire of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral and drawbridges. They will give way to the scenes of the siege and the images of the barrels of 85-millimetre artillery guns and aerostats (air balloons)  that defended the city against the enemy’s air raids. The images of ration tickets for 125, 200 and 300 grammes of bread that were issued to children during the siege will certainly stir the hearts of viewers. 

Another light show will tell the story of the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the greatest battles in mankind history, which took place almost 76 years ago. Viewers will see the city’s ruins and the central square with the Children’s Round Dance Fountain known for its sad fate. The fountain was almost completely destroyed during the war but decades later an exact replica was installed. Projection mapping technology will also allow audiences to see missiles fired by the legendary BM-13 (Katyusha) multiple rocket launcher.  

The video sequence dedicated to coastal hero cities Novorossiisk, Kerch and Sevastopol will reproduce naval battles, night bombings and other war scenes. The images will include the giant 305-millimetre coastal guns that defended Sevastopol and a torpedo boat and a landing barge that were used to evacuate civilians from Kerch.

The next film will highlight the heroism displayed by Murmansk, Tula and Smolensk, with barricades of sacks full of sand and fighter aircraft units moving into the spotlight along with the anti-tank obstacle defence known as a Czech hedgehog. Chimney stacks on the houses in Murmansk will be displayed on Manezh columns. During the war the city was hit by one of the most devastating bomb attacks ever carried out by the German Air Force Luftwaffe. The video images dedicated to the three cities will also include wartime posters “The people and the Army are invincible” and “The more metal we produce the more weapons we have.” After that, a transport aircraft will fly by with an inscription on it in Russian and English, “Greetings to our allies in the USSR”. It is an allusion to the airborne supplies of food delivered by Western aircraft under the lend-lease programme.

The light show will be completed with an inscription written in golden letters against a red background, saying “To those who died for the Motherland,” and the commemorative years 1941–1945.

Victory Day is a holiday celebrating the victory of the Red Army and the Soviet people over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War in 1941–1945. It was established by a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet of 8 May 1945 and is marked on 9 May every year. Since 1965, Victory Day has been a day off work.

Moscow celebrates Victory Day every year. This year, by tradition, it will host many public events, but the Victory Parade on Red Square and the Immortal Regiment march will be the focus of the city’s celebrations. In the evening, there will be a fireworks display that will be held at 33 sites.

Light shows marking 9 May have become a tradition in Moscow. Last year the theme of the show was letters from the front.