17 Panoramic Views of Soviet Kharkov 1984

Proletarian Square

Published in 1984 in both Ukrainian and Russian this postcard folder contained 17 panoramic style views of Kharkov (or Kharkiv), its streetscapes, monuments and sights.

These are pretty spectacular. Notable ones include the statue of Lenin in Dzerzhinsky Square with the constructivist architectural masterpiece the Derzhprom (or Gosprom) in the background. Completed in 1928 it was the tallest building in Europe at the time and one of the largest buildings in the world. Its incredibly innovative design remains very striking. The building is also pictured on the folder's cover.

In a few photos you see parts of Kharkov's impressive tram network cutting through places like Proletarian Square. The city also has a subway that opened in 1975.

As with so many Soviet cities Kharkov suffered greatly and much of it was destroyed during the genocidal Nazi invasion and occupation. After being liberated by the Red Army it was impressively rebuilt as were the other devastated cities of the USSR.

At the time these cards came out Kharkov's population was around 1,500,000.

Sadly many of the monuments pictured have since been torn down.

We have translated all of the cards into English.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Cover with Gosprom

Lenin Monument on Dzerzhinsky Square

New Highrise Housing District with Tram

Cinema Hall /

The Bell Tower of the Assumption Cathedral.

Soviet Ukraine Plaza

Hotel / Gorky State University

Shevchenko Drama Theatre / Medical Institute

Memorial Complex of Glory with the grieving "Mother of the Motherland"

Turbine Factory Workshops

Main Conveyor of the Tractor Factory /

Palace of Culture.

 Shevchenko Park

Wedding Palace / Fountain

Monument in Honor of the Proclamation of Soviet power in Ukraine

Anton Makarenko Monument (Makarenko was a famed Soviet educational theorist) /

Campus

Post Office / Gogol Monument

Monument to Shevchenko

Railway Station

View of the City

The Professions -- A Soviet Socialist Realist Art Portfolio for Children

Published in Moscow in 1983 this folder of Soviet socialist realist art was actually aimed at children. It was a portfolio of works by various artists that portrayed working people in the USSR farming, building subways, engaged in construction, sorting fish etc.

All of the art reproductions were fairly large at 8 by 11 inches and came with extensive text in Russian on the back about the piece. Unfortunately we have no translations for this text, but we have translated the names of the paintings. The folder originally came with 16 pieces of which we have 12 and the cover art.

The art here is truly compelling and interesting in terms of the professions that they chose to include. It is also not overly idealized but rather shows the important role that its subjects play and the nature of what they do.

Standouts to me are the deeply atmospheric take on Steelworkers in their foundry, the look at Uzbek women engaged in gold embroidery, the more idealized portrait of workers connecting tunnels of the Kharkiv Metro and the slightly surrealist piece of the artist as worker painting the day-to-day of port life.

What also comes through is the centrality of the worker in the Soviet cultural and social narrative.

(Click on images)

Caspian Fisheries

Artist and Port

Construction of the Kharkiv Metro

New District of Leningrad

Task Force

Trailer

Waiting for the Brigade

Metro Construction Workers

Gold Gems of Bukhara

Steelworker Brigade

The First Kilometers

"Harness the Horses"

See also: Moscow 1971 - 32 illustrated postcard images in colour and black-and-white

See also: Leonard Hutchinson and the Social Realist Art of Canadian Working Class Resistance in the 30s

Kharkiv 1975 -- A Vintage Soviet Postcard Folder

Kharkiv (or Kharkov) is the second largest city in the Ukraine and was the capital of the Ukrainian SSR until 1934. This postcard folder from the Soviet era shows the city and it various sights and institutions in 1975.

When looking at these photos it is worth remembering that around 70% of the city had been completely destroyed during the Second World War. 

I am very fond of this particular folder as it has an interesting variety in its subjects and also has some well framed streetscapes which are always a favourite subject of our vintage photography posts. The photograph of what was Rosa Luxemburg Square stands out as does the oddly classical and monumental appearance of the airport.

Transit nerds will see in several of the photos the Tatra T-3 tramcars that were manufactured in Czechoslovakia during the Communist era and that were noted for their exceptional reliability. We had some photos of these in our look at vintage postcards of the city of Ulyanovsk.  Kharkiv had a very extensive tram network and these were the primary trams that operated on it until the late 1980s.

The folio cover has the city name in Ukrainian, which is Ха́рків.

The cards have descriptions of what each card is of in Ukrainian, Russian, French and English. 

(Click on images to enlarge)

Gorky State University

Monument to the Fighters for Soviet Power

Monument "Star" in Kharkiv Divisions Street

University Hill

Monument to A. S. Makarenko

Monument to T. G. Shevchenko

Zone of Rest

Glass Stream Fountain in Victory Square

Department Store

City Soviet of Working People's Deputies

View of the Lopan River

Everyday Services Building

F. Dzerzhinsky Square

Airport

Monument to Lenin

Rosa Luxemburg Square

G. Byron Street

The Ukraine Concert and Cinema Complex

See also: Ulyanovsk -- 18 Soviet Postcards of the USSR Tourist Destination and Lenin's Birthplace

See also: Dimitrovgrad 1985 - A Soviet Postcard Folder of the City and its Sights