The Red Flag

Slavín is a cemetery and memorial to the soldiers of the Red Army which freed the city in 1945. It is high upon a mountain close to the main railway station and can be seen from nearly everywhere in the town. Walking up there on hot summer days gives you the feeling of having smashed Nazi Germany on your own.

The memorial is a massive building with the names of the Slovakian cities and the date of their liberation on the outside. On top a Sovjet soldier hoists the red flag and smashes a swastika with his feet. Around the memorial there are multiple mass graves and also a lot of single graves which show the names of the soldiers.

The memorial is really impressive and even as it is not an obligation anymore to come here on liberation day, a lot of Bratislavian citizens do so. You can take the steps (Puškinova) beginning some meters down the hill from the Slovenské technické múzeum (the place with the ugly metal crossovers). At the end turn left and walk around the hill. Be prepared well, you won’t find any water on top.

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