The ruins in Volgograd’s center on the banks of the Volga are of the Gerhardt Mill destroyed during the Second World War, which was once a major industrial facility, an important food complex of the city. The mill and its affiliated factory were built at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. During the Battle of Stalingrad the final frontier was there, deterring the army of German Field Marshal Paulus on the approaches to the Volga. Fierce fighting for the mill lasted for several months: it was bombed, blown up, but the enemy failed to pass.
After the war it was decided not to rebuild the Gerhardt Mill but keep it as a terrible lively recollection of the battle. The ruins are part of a historical reserve of the Stalingrad Battle Panoramic Museum, but tourists’ access to the building is now prohibited. From a distance you can see the holes in the walls, traces of gunfire, the bombed vaults...