Anti-Tank Hedgehogs
Monday, 3rd April 2006 by Alex Steinberger
These spiky looking red things are "anti-tank hedgehogs" just outside of Moscow. They are designed to be placed in roads or along defensive lines to stop mobile armour zooming about. These hedgehogs are a memorial that marks the closest point to Moscow reached by the German armour in the winter of 1941.
That huge car park and building to the south-west is bizzarely an Ikea store. There is some concern about future construction and its proximity to the monument.
About the author
Alex Steinberger is a starving graduate student studying urban planning in Portland, Oregon. He will work for food.
The Swedes succeeded where Germans couldn’t but instead of panzers and howitzers they are using Billy bookcases and Robin wardrobes. I’m sure the millions of Russians who died in defense of the country will be glad to know that their sacrifice is being treated with the dignity it rightly deserves. At least its not a Wal-mart……! Give it time though.
South of the memorial there is a serious Russian traffic jam. The traffic is backed back for miles!
An Ikea and a traffic jam????? Together? Surely not?
Re: Traffic jam – “Now there’s youre problem!”
View Placemark
Looks like a helicopter on the carriageway so could be an air ambulance. Also is that a flying cheese slice? Cue loads of wild theories in a ‘Flying Car’ type of way.
Well there all stopping to see the gint russian pinwheel spiral thingy, or they all got confused, jumped out of their cars to runn off the road and left their cars there on the freeway, thus causing said jam…
View Placemark
“The Swedes succeeded where Germans couldn’t but instead of panzers and howitzers they are using Billy bookcases and Robin wardrobes.”
Which will, of course, fall apart in six months. Gotta love IKEA.
This is actually one of the 2 or 3 biggest and nicest shopping centers in all of Russia. There is a large modern mall and an Auchan (closest thing to a Walmart in Russia) in addition to the Ikea now. Ikea furniture is of far superior quality than almost anything else available here and is considered expensive and fancy. Most of our furniture was purchased in this Ikea and the other stores can be one of the only options if you want to get something western in Moscow. Not very good, but everything is relative – if you lived here very long you would beg for a Walmart.
The monument is still there, much as it appears in this photo.
The road is the main connection to St. Petersburg and the international airport. Traffic is always a nightmare with cars constantly driving on the shoulder, median, and creating extra lanes.
The other Mega Mall is here:
View Placemark
I think the giant flying triangle is a set of billboards similar to the ones linked below, but with a roof over the top.
View Placemark
I wouldn’t call Ikea furniture expensive and fancy, even for Moscow. But at least it’s good enough for my young middle-income family.
Yes, the triangle structure is for billboards. The odd spiral thingy is in the park near Rechnoy Vokzal (the river-boat station), so it might be some decoration, maybe a fountain; never bothered to come there and see.
The anti-tank obstacle monument is several times the real size.
Can i just say how nice it is to have contributions from our Russian friends? Also your English is a little bit better than my Russian!
What caused the massive traffic jam was an ´86 Lada. It just doesn´t go any faster than 40mph
Thanks to Google that make the said contributions possible in the first place.
Имхо вы долбаебы =) Ñ?мешные пендоÑ?еги.