Changing of the guard on Red Square is a bewitching sight. Eternal flame burns at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Every 60 minutes, minting a step, three soldiers from the 1st company of the Kremlin Regiment (Presidential), accompanied by a breeder, walk, attracting the admiring glances of the residents of the capital and its guests. Tight-willed, strong-willed guys in the shape of a needle froze for a minute in front of a flame that never goes out, to once again mentally say: "Your name is unknown, your deed is immortal." Then there is a divorce of sentries.
Canceled and Restored
For a long time, going to Moscow, every Soviet person and foreign visitor planned to visit the Mausoleum. The excursion program included an unusual sight: a regular change of the guard. On Red Square, much has been modernized. The color and cut of military ammunition, some details of the ceremony changed. However, Post No. 1 itself, established in 1924, was associated with the USSR residents with something unshakable. But perestroika came and made its own adjustments: in the second month of the autumn of tumultuous 1993, it ceased to exist.
In addition to the Mausoleum, on the main square of Russia (in Alexander Park) there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In front of her is the Eternal Flame lit on the eve of Victory Day, May 8, 1967. The guard was not provided. December 8, 1997 saw the light of the Decree of the Head of State of Russia. The document ordered the establishment of such a post.
The reburial of the remains in the park was made in 1966, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the victory over the Nazis in the battle of Moscow. Prior to this, the warrior was buried in the common grave of those killed in battle, where the Bayonets monument is now installed (Leningradskoye Shosse, 41 km). After planned design work, the Kremlin's neighborhood was replenished with an architectural ensemble in honor of the fighters, whose name has sunk into oblivion. The memorial was inaugurated on May 8, 1967.
Maresyev and Brezhnev
What does the monument look like, which is especially expressive during the changing of the guard? The following component of the artistic form in bronze is placed on Red Square: a combat banner hangs from a tombstone, a soldier's helmet lies on it, the laurel branch crowns everything. The flame of memory of the fallen was lit personally by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. Documentary shots have been preserved in which the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, kneeling, brings the torch to the burner, as if giving a countdown to a new period in the life of the memorial.
Noteworthy fact: Brezhnev took the torch from the hands of a native of the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd Region, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Petrovich Maresyev. In 1942, a fighter pilot’s plane was shot down in the sky above Valdai. The pilot survived, but both legs were amputated. He learned to walk on prostheses and returned to battle formation. They say that Alexei Petrovich was on an equal footing with no apparent effort, as if there was nothing like him.
In 2009, the Memorial gained national significance. It was reconstructed. In connection with the expansion of the complex until February 2010, the guard was not on duty. For the time being, the solemn laying of flowers and wreaths ceased. The eternal flame was transferred to Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill.
Guard Divorce Schedule
The blazing symbol of memory was returned to the Kremlin wall on Defender of the Fatherland Day, February 23, 2010. Many are interested in the question of when the changing of the guard takes place on Red Square. The schedule provides for daily and hourly shift duty. The beginning is eight o’clock in the morning, the end is eight o'clock in the evening.
If necessary, in special situations, sentinels are also divorced from overtime. The first guard of honor in 1997: captain V. S. Kaminsky, 1st company commander, sergeant M. P. Volgunov (reconnaissance), corporal R. V. Chernoburov, A. S. Gorbashkov. The last two took up duty on December 12 at eight in the morning. Most spectators are delighted with the drill training of the soldiers of the Kremlin company: it is always on top. After all, this is not an ordinary change of guard. On Red Square, a special, “Kremlin step” is needed. Important mastery of techniques with weapons and extremely well-coordinated actions.
Goose step
The origin of the ceremonial "goose pace" that the soldiers walk during the ceremony is interesting. They lift the leg high and slowly, with each swing pulling the toe. Maintaining balance in this scenario is not easy. But this is a very expressive movement. The head is characteristically raised, the neck is extended, the arms are thrown out like “holders”. All this is necessary to maintain balance. This is a step of strong and disciplined men. In Russia, it began to be used in parades by decree of Tsar Paul I. It was preserved in the Red Army and the satellite armies of the Soviet Union.
There is evidence that the goose step was used in the XVII century. In many countries it is canceled. In Russia and at Post No. 1, a sophisticated, effective combatant reception is still relevant. Its use is admired by everyone who came to the center of Moscow when the guard changes. On Red Square one can hear exclamations: “Is this a parade of blood relatives? So alike! ”
Our service is both beautiful and difficult
This feeling is not born from scratch and is based not only on the stunning training of soldiers of the elite regiment. It is known that in the unit there are many twin brothers. Yes, everything looks beautiful and expressive. But the service is so difficult that not everyone can handle such a change of guard. On Red Square you need to stand without moving in frost and wind, in heat and rain. Behave as if you do not feel the influence of weather conditions. Many tourists admit that when approaching, they even feel a chill from stiffened figures. Everything is as planned: externally detached, internally alert and collected. This is a guard.
When traveling in Moscow, from time to time remember what time the guard changes. On Red Square, Russian and foreign tourists appear both in the early morning and late evening. But if the goal is to watch the guard's divorce, then you need to focus on the formula “from eight to eight” (morning and evening).
Gray war veterans
Here there are not only scattered visitors, but also organized groups, newlyweds, who traditionally express gratitude to those who fought for a peaceful sky above their heads on the birthday of the family. In the morning of May 9 (Victory Day), front-line veterans arrive. Every year they are less and less, as time is inexorable.
With Post No. 1 they can be said to be peers. When in the distant twenty-fourth year of the 20th century, the architect Alexei Viktorovich Schusev was given the important task of building a crypt (Mausoleum) for the deceased father of the Land of the Soviets V.I. Lenin, some were just born, others were very small. They arrived here as young, flowering guys, men in their prime.
Initially, the Mausoleum was built of wood. A small cube of dark gray color, and above it a pyramid in three steps (the total height of the tombstone was 3 meters). The first guard was put on the twenty-sixth of January 1924 at 16 o’clock. The honor was given to the cadets, sons of laborers Grigory Koblov and Arseniy Kashkin (the son of the railwayman Janos Meisaros, a Hungarian by nationality, was the breeder). In the USSR, equality, fraternity, belonging to a simple working class were welcomed.
Second Mausoleum
It is difficult to say how it happened, after how much the changing of the guard. On Red Square, and this is known for certain, cadets from the companies and squadrons of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Kremlin Military School were on duty. It doesn’t matter if the first sentries were cavalrymen or foot soldiers, machine gunners or artillery men — these are the best people of their time.
By the spring of 1924, anxiety about the preservation of the leader’s body increased. Schusev was instructed to create a new, more reliable architectural form, the appearance of which would be combined with the Kremlin wall and Red Square. The second building turned out to be larger, with a portico and stands, stepped, a square was laid around. The building went into operation in August and became a frontal place: people flocked here to rallies, demonstrations, parades. A guard of Kremlin cadets was put up at the entrance.
Greatness of memory
On the anniversary of the death of Lenin, along with the “kremlyans”, representatives of other military schools and regiments, as well as workers and peasants who deserved this honor, served. Eyewitnesses of past events, it happens, cry from overwhelming feelings when the guard changes. On Red Square, once the process looked simple and harsh. But also majestic.
By 1929, the idea of building a stone Mausoleum that retains its usual shape matured. The construction commission was led by K.E. Voroshilov. The author of the project was the irreplaceable Schusev. He did not copy the wooden structure, but realized new forms.
During the finishing work, the building was dressed in granite and marble. Since 1935, the guard was carried out by soldiers of the Kremlin garrison. When the enemy approached Moscow, the leader’s body was evacuated to Tyumen. Sentries were replaced by the sound of wheels (at the same time in Moscow at the Mausoleum throughout the war). In the 1950s, after the death of the head of the Soviet state I.V. Stalin, the inscription "Lenin-Stalin" was visible for some time above the entrance. There were many more events. The traditions of changing guard of honor have changed. As mentioned above, in 1966, the Kremlin appeared the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For some time there was no permanent post near her. Now he is acting. The memory of the feat of the people is alive and protected.