Soviet memorials

How we measured this

We downloaded every OpenStreetMap object tagged historic=memorial or historic=monument inside each state’s boundary whose name, subject, inscription or description (German, Russian or English keys) mentions the Soviet Union, the Red Army or Lenin, or whose subject:wikidata is Q1394 (Lenin), with the QLever SPARQL service (University of Freiburg) on the OpenStreetMap planet file of 21 September 2026 (queried 4 November 2026). We then kept, strictly: (a) memorials tagged memorial=war_memorial whose text mentions “sowjetisch/Soviet”, “Rote Armee” or Russian “советск…/Красной Армии”, or whose name itself says “Sowjetisches Ehrenmal/Ehrenfriedhof/Denkmal”; (b) Lenin monuments (subject:wikidata=Q1394 or “Lenin” in the name), not counting plaques. We excluded memorials to victims of Soviet repression (NKVD special camps, 17 June 1953) and memorials to Soviet prisoners of war and forced labourers who died in Nazi camps, and dropped repeats of the same memorial within 100 metres. The figure is per 100,000 inhabitants (Destatis, 31 December 2025).

• Only memorials whose OpenStreetMap tags say they are Soviet are found. Many small Soviet graves and obelisks carry only a Russian inscription or no name, so the true number, especially in the East, is higher.
• Soviet memorials in the West exist mostly as cemeteries and memorials for Soviet prisoners of war; those are counted separately (see notes) and not in the figure.
• OpenStreetMap is compiled by volunteers. Coverage of Germany is among the best in the world but not complete, and how thoroughly a feature type is mapped can differ between regions.
• Our counts are derived from OpenStreetMap and are released under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0: © OpenStreetMap contributors.