Museum of Kalinin Front is dedicated to a major battle that was fought here during World War II. Its location in a village of Emmaus is not coincidence. It was in 1941 Soviet soldiers of Kalinin Front broke through German lines on December 5th, 1941. It turned out to be a turning point in the history of Great Patriotic War as World War II is known in Russia. It broke the momentum of Blitzkrieg and saved Russian capital, Moscow from conquest. Museum of Kalinin Front was opened in 2002. It contains a exposition devoted to actions of various of divisions of the Kalinin Front from beginning of the war to the very end when it merged and became part of the Baltic Front.
The Kalinin Front Museum was opened in 2005 for
the 60th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in memory
of the events that took place in 1941 on the right, northern flank
of the Moscow battle.
The museum is located in the village of
Emmaus, Kalininsky district, 16 km from the regional center - Tver,
former Kalinin, after which a large military formation, the
Kalininsky Front, created in the vicinity of the city was named. At
this point, on December 5, 1941, the front troops broke through the
defenses of the German troops, thereby starting a counteroffensive
of the Red Army near Moscow.
The museum has two exposition,
exhibition and lecture halls. The decoration and color scheme of the
exhibition are aimed at recreating the spirit of wartime.
The
materials of the first hall reflect the events of the first months
of the Great Patriotic War, hostilities on the territory of the
region, the defense and liberation of the city of Kalinin. The
showcases show diagrams showing the plans of the German command in
the Kalinin area, to trace the course of hostilities around the
city. Photos and documents of the defenders and liberators of the
city make it possible to find out their names, tell about specific
examples of the heroism of Soviet people. A set of materials on the
creation of the Kalinin Front is highlighted separately.
In
one of the showcases of the hall, samples of weapons, items of
equipment of the Wehrmacht soldiers are displayed. The other
contains unique exhibits: a genuine red flag, which was hoisted over
the River Station of the city of Kalinin on the day of its
liberation on December 16, 1941, bloody Komsomol cards of soldiers
who died in battles for the city.
The central place in the
hall is occupied by the diorama "The Battle for Tveretsky Bridge".
Its plot reflects the true fact when the artillerymen of the 5th
battery of the 531st artillery regiment under the command of
Lieutenant A.I. Katsitadze, with the support of the soldiers of the
4th company of the 937th rifle regiment under the command of
Lieutenant N.M. Bukshenko in the vicinity of the Fire Square in
Kalinin, for three days, the German troops were blocked the way to
the Volga region through the Tveretsky bridge.
Exhibits in
the second hall of the museum tell about the hostilities of the
Kalinin Front in 1942-1943: eight offensive and one defensive
operations carried out by the front's troops both independently and
together with the troops of other fronts.
Bloody battles
unfolded in the area of the Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledge. Four difficult
offensive operations were carried out here by the troops of the
Kalinin and Western fronts.
For the first time, museum means
told about the defensive operation of the front forces in July 1942
in the area of Bely, which was hushed up in Soviet times.
After the liquidation of the German Rzhev-Vyazemsky bridgehead near
Rzhev, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. came to the village of
Khoroshevo on August 4-5, 1943. Stalin. In the exposition you can
see photographs of the house where he stayed, the commander of the
Kalinin Front, Colonel-General A.I. Eremenko, with whom Stalin met,
the first artillery salute in the history of the Great Patriotic
War, the decision on which was made during the stay of the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief near Rzhev.
The central place in the
second hall is occupied by a spatial artistic composition, which
contains basic information about the Kalinin Front.
In the
lecture hall of the museum, photographs of the correspondent of the
Kalinin Front B. Vdovenko and the work of German photographers.
The exhibition hall houses the stationary exhibition "Childhood
Scorched by War".
There are several objects on the territory of the
museum: a mass grave where the soldiers who died in the battles for
Emmaus are buried; a platform with samples of artillery pieces; a
field kitchen under a camouflage net with wooden tables and benches.
INTERACTIVE PROGRAMS
"Aty-bats, soldiers were coming!" (5+)
Participants in the program try on the roles of soldiers of the
Kalinin Front. To feel like real soldiers, they put on raincoats and
caps. Ahead of them are a test of intellectual abilities;
conditional crossing of the Volga, delivery of ammunition and
medicines to the front line, shelling with a test of knowledge of
mathematics, restoration of communications, answers to questions
from the army headquarters and installation of a banner. The program
will end with a real soldier's lunch - buckwheat porridge with stew,
bread and sweet tea.
The program is designed for a group of
up to 30 people, its duration is one and a half to two hours
(depending on the number of participants). In the warm season, the
program is held on the territory of the museum, in the open air, in
the winter - in the lecture hall
Quest "From Kalinin to
Königsberg" (16+)
Before the start of the game, all participants
will have to visit an excursion in order to have a general idea of
the museum, to understand the layout of the exposition, the
location of the halls and exhibits. The next stage is to receive a
package with a task, which includes an individual card and a Red
Army book with a tear-off coupon. In the task card, before each
question, there is a fragment of the exposition, which visually
orientates the participant of the game in the museum to the correct
answer. 45 minutes are allotted to complete the quest, after which
all mission cards are submitted for verification to the "military
council". During the check, the participants of the game watch
documentaries or chronicles of the Great Patriotic War in the
lecture hall. The program ends with the awarding of the winners.
The program is designed for a group of up to 25 people, its
duration is one and a half to two hours (depending on the number of
participants).
"School of Santa Claus" (5+)
The program
participants will celebrate the New Year in seven countries of the
world, and then they will meet with Santa Claus. It will be a real
forest holiday! Children will enter the edge of a pine forest over a
carpet of spruce branches and enter the land of fabulous gnomes.
Guests and participants of the program will experience a whirlwind
of active games, laughter and fun, tasks for cunning and ingenuity,
ice skating, a round dance around a decorated Christmas tree and
much more. After all the tests for the excellent work done, Santa
Claus will present the participants with Diplomas of graduation from
the magic School and conferring the title "Assistant to Santa
Claus".
The program is designed for a group of up to 50
people, its duration is one and a half to two hours (depending on
the number of participants).
Lesson-holiday "Wide carnival"
(5+)
Guests of the holiday will be greeted by fairytale heroes
who will tell about the way of life and customs of our ancestors. On
the picturesque territory of the museum, in a pine forest, the
Slavic traditions of baking pancakes, arranging feasts, dancing,
dressing up, burning an effigy of Maslenitsa and welcoming spring
will be embodied! Guests will find hot pancakes and tea in the fresh
frosty air, sale of souvenirs and photographing as a souvenir in the
image of a Russian nesting doll.
The program is designed for
a group of up to 50 people, its duration is one and a half to two
hours (depending on the number of participants).