The Panorama and Mill, Volgograd

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The museum is located next to the steam mill, a building which is kept intact after the war. Ironically the mill was built by two german brothers before the war whose names were Gergartd. The museum has a big panaroma drawn where you may see the illustrations from a a day in Satlingard war. Also weapons, bombs, photos from that era can be seen. Be carefull with the attitude of the old museum workers.

The greatest battle panorama - 360' all-round panorama of the Stalingrad Battle.

Difficult to describe. One must see it.

360' panorama you can see scroll at my external page: Stalingrad Battle Panorama (Image size is about 500kB)

After Stalingrad siege, that lasted almost half a year, all the town lasted in ruines. There were not a single building left.

One building was preserved in this ruined state as a memorial - the old steam mill. It was build in XIX c by two german brothers businessmen. And was ruined in 1942 also by germans.

On the background you can see rounded building of the BAttle Panorama.

If you have time, you must go to the Stalingrad museum. The panorama is stunning, and it's worth paying for a camera ticket.

The panorama depicts a scene from the infamous battle, and it is rendered in uncanny detail. It's hard to tell where the diorama in the foreground ends and the painting on the wall begins.

If you can, take a good flash with you. The scene inside is very dark and my built-in flash just wasn't up to the job, as you can see from my picture.

The panorama is, I believe, the largest in Russia. It has scenes and images from the battle of Stalingrad as well as a museum complex below with memorablia of the war. The mill, next door, has been left in the condition it was found after the battle as a reminder of the destruction. You cannot enter the mill.

Since WWII, Volgograd has been completely rebuilt. The wartime destruction of the city can be seen now only in photos taken after the battle--which are horrific--and in this one bombed-out building, which was deliberately left as a memorial of the carnage. If you go to the local museum there, you'll see that the entire city in 1945 looked pretty much like this building. It's amazing to see it now.