Monument in memory of Russian Germans unveiled in Russia's North

The monument symbolizes the memory of all foreigners, who had contributed to the history of Arkhangelsk

Spokespeople for the German public organization “The House of the Fatherland” (“Dom Rodini”) arrived in the city of Arkhangelsk in northern Russia to participate in the ceremony. The memorial represents a 200-year-old stone wall. The wall used to be a part of the family necropolis of the Arkhangelsk industrialists, the Shergoldts. The names of European emigrants are carved in the Gothic style on eight memorial boards.

The monument was consecrated according to traditions of the Lutheran church. The project of the monument in the memory of Russian Germans has been executed at the expense of the German public organization “The House of the Fatherland.” Nuernberg guests arrived in Arkhangelsk to see the monument being unveiled.

”It turned out to be better than we expected,” a spokeswoman for the Nuernberg-based organization Erna Malegin said. “When we saw photographs of garbage heaps, we could not imagine what the outcome of it would actually be. We are very pleased to see such a wonderful result. It is the creation of the people, who worked for free, from the bottom of their hearts,” Erna Malegin said.

Specialists of the Arkhangelsk region history were against the installment of the memorial boards on the Shergoldts' family necropolis. The Shergoldts' descendants, however, did not have any objections against the monument. Larisa Shergoldt said the monument would symbolize the memory of all foreigners, who had contributed to the city's history.

On the photo: the view of Arkhangelsk city

Tatiana Serkina