Change of guard on Red Square: description, traditions, schedule and interesting facts

Changing the guard on Red Square - a spectacle fascinating. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Eternal Flame is burning. Every 60 minutes, a check step, three soldiers from the 1st company of the Kremlin Regiment (Presidential), accompanied by a diligent one, draw the admiring glances of the residents of the capital and its guests. Tightened, strong-willed guys in the form of "needle" for a moment freeze in front of a flaming flame, in order to once again mentally say: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." Then the divorce of sentries occurs.

Canceled and restored

Since ancient times, when going to Moscow, every Soviet person and foreign guest planned to visit the Mausoleum. The excursion program included an unusual sight: regular changing of the guard. Many things have been updated on Red Square. The color and the cut of military ammunition, some details of the ceremony, changed. However, Post No. 1 itself, established in 1924, was associated with something unshakable among the inhabitants of the USSR. But perestroika came and made its own corrections: in the second month of the autumn of turbulent 1993, it ceased to exist.

In addition to the Mausoleum, on the main square of Russia (in the Alexander Park) 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 foreseen. On December 8, 1997, the light saw the Decree of the Head of State of Russia. The document prescribed to establish such a post.

The burial of remains on the territory of the park was made in 1966, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the victory over the Nazis in the battle near Moscow. Prior to that, the soldier was buried in a common grave that perished in battle, where the "Bayonets" monument (Leningradskoe shosse, 41 km) is now installed. After planned decorating works, the Kremlin neighborhood was replenished with an architectural ensemble in honor of the fighters, whose name has sunk to oblivion. The memorial was inaugurated on May 8, 1967.

Maresiev and Brezhnev

What does the monument look like that are particularly expressive during the changing of the guard? On Red Square the next component of the art form in bronze is placed: from the tombstone hangs the battle flag, on it lies a soldier's helmet, all crowned by the laurel branch. The flame of the memory of the fallen was lit by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev personally. Documentary cadres have survived, at which the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, bowing his knee, brings a torch to the burner, as if giving a countdown to a new period in the life of the memorial.

A noteworthy fact: Brezhnev took the torch from the hands of a native of the town of Kamyshin, Volgograd Region, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Petrovich Maresiev. In 1942, the fighter pilot's plane was shot down in the sky over Valdai. The pilot survived, but both legs were amputated to him. He learned to walk on prostheses and returned to the fighting system. They say that Alexei Petrovich walked with everyone on an equal footing, with no apparent effort, as if nothing of the kind had happened to him.

In 2009, the Memorial gained national importance. It was reconstructed. In connection with the work to expand the complex until February 2010, guard duty was not carried out. For a while, the solemn laying of flowers and wreaths was stopped. The eternal fire was transferred to Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill.

Schedule of guard divorce

The blazing symbol of memory was returned to the Kremlin wall on the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland, February 23, 2010. Many are interested in the question of when there is a change of guard on Red Square. The schedule provides for a daily and hourly shift of duty. The beginning is eight o'clock in the morning, the end is eight o'clock in the evening.

If necessary, in special situations, the divorce of sentries is made and after-hours. The first honor guard in 1997: the commander of the 1st company Captain VS S. Kaminsky, Sergeant MP Volgunov (bred), corporals RV Chernoburov, A. S. Gorbashkov. The last two took to duty on December 12 at eight o'clock in the morning. The majority of spectators are delighted with drill training of soldiers of the Kremlin company: it is always on top. After all, this is not an ordinary change of guard. On the Red Square you need a special, "Kremlin step". Importantly honed possession of techniques with weapons and extremely coordinated actions.

Goose step

It is interesting to know the origin of the ceremonial "goose step", which soldiers go during the ceremony. They raise their legs high and slow, pulling their toes with each stroke. To maintain balance in this situation is not easy. But this is a very expressive movement. The head is characteristically raised, the neck is stretched out, hands are thrown out like "holders". All this is necessary to maintain a balance. This is the step of strong and disciplined men. In Russia, it began to be used on parades under the decree of Tsar Paul I. It was kept in the Red Army and the armies of the satellites of the Soviet Union.

There is evidence that goose step was used as far back as the 17th century. In many countries it is canceled. In Russia and at Post No. 1, a sophisticated, spectacular feint is still relevant. His application is admired by all who came to the center of Moscow, when there is a change of guard. On Red Square you can hear exclamations: "Is this a parade of blood relatives? So similar! "

Our service is both beautiful and difficult

This feeling is born not from scratch, and is based not only on the tremendous training of servicemen of the elite regiment. It is known that in the division there are many brothers-twins. Yes, everything looks beautiful and expressive. But the service is so difficult that not everyone can shoulder such a change of guard. On Red Square you need to stand, not moving in the frost and wind, in the heat and rain. Behave as if you do not feel the influence of weather conditions. Many tourists admit that when approaching, they even feel the chill of stiff figures. Everything is conceived: externally detached, internally - wary and collected. This is protection.

Traveling around Moscow, from time to time remember how much the changing of the guard. On Red Square, Russian and foreign tourists appear in the early morning and late evening. But if the goal is to watch the guard divorce, then you need to focus on the formula "from eight to eight" (morning and evening).

Gray Warriors

Here there are not only scattered visitors, but also organized groups, newlyweds, who traditionally on the birthday of the family express gratitude to those who fought for a peaceful sky over their heads. In the morning of May 9 (Victory Day) veterans-veterans come. Every year they are less, because time is inexorable.

With Post No. 1 they can be said to be peers. When in the distant twenty-fourth year of the twentieth century, before the architect Alexei Viktorovich Shchusev, they set an important task to build a crypt (Mausoleum) to the deceased father of the Land of Soviets, VI Lenin, only were born, others were very small. They came here young, blossoming guys, men in their prime.

Originally, the Mausoleum was built of wood. A small cube of a 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 up on January 26, 1924, at 4 pm. Honor was given to the cadets, the sons of farm laborers Grigory Koblov and Arseniy Kashkin (the son of a railroad worker, Janos Mejsarosh, a Hungarian by race). In the USSR equality, fraternity, belonging to a simple labor class were welcomed.

The Second Mausoleum

It's hard to say how it happened, how many times the guard changed. On Red Square, and it is for certain known, cadets from the mouths and squadrons of the Kremlin's joint military school named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee were on duty. It does not matter, the first sentries were cavalrymen or infantrymen, machine gunners or artillerymen - these are the best people of their time.

By the spring of 1924, the alarm about the preservation of the leader's body had increased. Schusev was instructed to create a new, more reliable architectural form, the image of which would be combined with the Kremlin wall and Red Square. The second building was larger, with a portico and grandstands, a stepped one, and a square was built around it. The structure was put into operation in August and became a frontal place: the people flocked here to rallies, demonstrations, parades. A guard from the Kremlin cadets was posted at the entrance.

The greatness of memory

On the anniversary of Lenin 's death, along with the "Kremlin", the service was carried by representatives of other military schools and regiments, as well as workers and peasants who deserved such honor. Eyewitnesses of past events, it happens, cry from overwhelmed feelings when there is a change of guard. On the Red Square, the process once looked simple and harsh. But too majestic.

By 1929, the idea to build a stone Mausoleum, retaining the usual outlines, had ripened. The commission for the construction was headed by KE Voroshilov. The author of the project was the irreplaceable Schusev. He did not copy the wooden structure, but realized new forms.

During the finishing works the building was clad in granite and marble. Since 1935, the guard duty was carried out by soldiers of the Kremlin garrison. When the enemy approached Moscow, the leader's body was evacuated to Tyumen. Sentinels were replaced by the clatter of wheels (simultaneously in Moscow at the Mausoleum throughout the war). In the 1950s, after the death of Stalin, the leader of the Soviet state, the inscription "Lenin-Stalin" was visible above the entrance for a while. There were many more events. The traditions of the change of honor guard changed. As stated above, in 1966, the Kremlin had the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For some time she did not have a permanent post. Now it works. The memory of the feat of the people is alive and protected.