The Motherland Calls! Mother of all Statues

85 meters tall – if you count the sword, and why wouldn’t you? But even without the weapon, The Motherland Calls! still stands a respectable and awe-inspiring 52 meters tall. Its location (since 1967) is Volgograd ( Волгоград, formerly Stalingrad), where else?

Facts and Figures

More facts and figures about The Motherland Calls (also known as Mother Russia) can be found on Wikipedia in English, Dutch, and Russian. Also see The Motherland Calls – Mother Russia (Historiek.net) and «Родина-мать зовет!» 10 Facts about the Monument (Culture.ru).

More about the statue’s construction and history can be found in Родина-мать зовет! – The Story Behind the Record-Breaking Statue (Наш полк, 2017, 7 m), in Советская империя. Родина-мать (История, 2016/2019, 43 m), and here in just 1 minute.

Battle of Stalingrad

Of course, Volgograd is famous because of the Battle of Stalingrad, the titanic struggle on the Volga and turning point of WWII. The monument is reached by climbing 200 steps, symbolizing the 200 days the Battle of Stalingrad lasted.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

When she was first erected, The Motherland Calls was the tallest statue in the world. She has since been surpassed several times. However, it remains the tallest statue in Europe and the world’s tallest statue of a woman – and she holds the world’s largest sword.

• Top 10 Tallest Statues in the World 2019 (4 Ever Green, 2019, 5 m)
• 37 Tallest Statues in the World Height and Size Comparison 3D (Amazing Viz, 2019, 3 m)
• Biggest Statues In The World (Factnomenal, 2019, 11 m)
• The world’s third tallest statue (The Mamayev Monument) (Our Marvellous World, 2012, 3 m)

Poster

The Motherland Calls! is also a famous recruitment poster from 1941 (by Irakli Toidze). A USSR version of Uncle Sam Wants You. You can decide for yourself who you’d rather listen to: an uncle who wants something, or the mother who calls.

More info here and here and on Wikipedia (RU). See Кто изображен на плакате Родина Мать Зовёт (2020, 1 m) and Родина Мать зовет! The Story of the Poster (Татьяна Батуева, 2017, 3 m).

Statue in Focus

The Story Behind Europe’s Tallest Statue: The Motherland Calls
(National Geographic, 2018, 2 m)

The Motherland Calls: Russia’s symbol of victory
(RT, 2012, 22 m)

Russian version: Родина-мать зовет!

Renovation 2019

By the 75th Victory Day in 2020, The Motherland Calls! was supposed to be fully restored and in perfect condition. Renovation began in 2019. See Russia’s Motherland Statue Calls… For A Makeover (rferl.org, 2019) and below. Here she is in scaffolding, and here’s the result.

• Iconic “Motherland Calls” Monument in Volgograd Being Repaired (Vesti News, 2019, 2 m)
• Restoration completed for the 75th anniversary of Victory in Volgograd (Новости на Первом Канале, 2019, 3 m)
• Reconstruction of the “Motherland” sculpture completed for 75th Victory Anniversary (Новости на Первом Канале, 2019, 4 m)

Everything changed with corona. For what Victory Day 2020 looked like, see Volgograd from above – Victory Day 2020 (BlinkovFPV, 2020, 4 m). It was much busier in 2019.

Controversy

Artemy Lebedev (Wikipedia EN and RU) isn’t a fan of the statue, calling it “ugly” (уродской). See Lebedev called “The Motherland” “ugly” (Телеканал 360, 2020, 2 m).

The FSB didn’t appreciate that. See The FSB investigates Artemy Lebedev over comments on Circassians and “The Motherland” (Lenta.ru, 2020) and FSB investigates Lebedev for insulting “The Motherland” and Circassians (Телеканал 360, 2020, 2 m). However, the FSB had more important matters to attend to. See FSB saves “The Motherland” from explosion (Россия 24, 2020, 2 m).

Maybe Lebedev will change his mind after seeing The Motherland in the mist, with projections, or with new lighting.

Mamayev Kurgan

The statue does not stand alone on the hill Mamayev Kurgan or Mamajev Kurgan. The Memorial Complex for the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad is a World Heritage Site and home to the Eternal Flame.

• Stalingrad battle – Mamayev Kurgan (Real Russian Club, 2019, 4 m)
• Mamayev Kurgan: Tour with the Best Guide (Елена Михайлова, 2019, 56 m)
• Mamayev Kurgan - The Honor Guard of the Eternal Flame (Quick World, 2018, 10 m)
• Motherland! In Memory of Those Who Fell Fighting Fascism (Сергей Менжунов, 2016, 3 m)

Also see this Timelapse and a Walking Tour.
Read Visiting Mamaev Kurgan: The Heart and Soul of Russia (Pradiz.com, 2020) and What’s it like inside the giant statue The Motherland Calls? (Yekaterina Sinelschikova, Russia Beyond 2019).

More Statues

There are statues with the same name in other places, including (since 1981) one in Kyiv, Ukraine. That one is 62 meters, with the base included, 102 meters. You can climb inside and even hang a rainbow flag on the sword, which was probably not the original intent.

There’s even a replica of the original Rodina-mat in Manzhouli, China.