Eternal Flame The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden has been burning for fifty years: it was lit on May 8, 1967. Why does it never go out? The answer is known to the person who participated in the development of the unquenchable burner.
“I can’t say about ‘never’,” smiles the inventor of the Eternal Flame burner, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Honored Inventor of Russia Kirill Reader,— but the resource will last for a long time!”
Half a century ago, a group of young employees of the Mosgazproekt research department received an important task from the Moscow City Council: within 2.5 months, to invent and construct a device that would become one of the symbols of Victory.
“We were “children of war,” recalls Kirill Fedorovich, “so for us this work meant special meaning. We survived the war too young and, due to our age, did not have time to do anything for Victory. Therefore, our contribution to it had to be the Eternal Flame, which, with our help, would perpetuate the memory of the heroes in the very center of Moscow. We had to come up with a burner that would work in any weather conditions, including rain, snow, strong wind loads. A whole series of samples were prepared, we compared, selected the best, spent a long time calculating, experimenting, and arguing. We were young, but well-trained and well-trained, and also hardworking: we came to work early morning, they were leaving - with the last tram. My mother called me “tenant” because I only came home to spend the night. There was a lot to do, but I always liked this lifestyle. He hasn't changed over time. My wife is not offended: she has long been accustomed to the fact that I am constantly at work...”
Kirill Reader and general manager Mosgaz OJSC Hasan Gasangadzhiev during the maintenance of the Eternal Flame burner in the Alexander Garden. Photo: RIA Novosti / Ilya Pitalev
How does this work
Fifty years ago, the conditions were difficult, the order was difficult, but young scientists managed, and now the fire can withstand winds of up to 18 meters per second. The secret of the “eternity” of the fire lies not only in the burner itself, but also in careful care of the device. Once a month, late in the evening, when the flow of tourists and walkers in the Alexander Garden dries up, a team of employees of JSC MOSGAZ comes to the Eternal Flame. They bring with them a temporary burner (a device the size of a household gas stove), onto which they transfer the fire from its main place with a special torch, and then stop the gas supply to the main burner. The eternal flame continues to burn, simply moving to another place, this does not harm it at all. Meanwhile, the main burner is inspected, thoroughly cleaned and all necessary technical manipulations are carried out. The whole procedure takes no more than 40 minutes, after which the gas supply is resumed, and the flame is transferred to a permanent “eternal” place using the same torch.
“This responsible attitude allows you to operate the burner without any unpleasant consequences,” says Reeder. — Sometimes we get calls from other cities: they say, help, what to do, the fire at the memorial goes out, and not even 10 years have passed! We, of course, help with advice and consult. But the main thing here is proper care. And this is precisely what is often missing.”
Reader invented and developed another famous Eternal Flame in Moscow: the one that burns today on Poklonnaya Hill. Wind loads there are much more serious, but the burner is ready to withstand gusts even up to 58 m/sec (this is already hurricane wind). So there is no doubt that the fire dedicated to warriors holy war, will never go out.
Guard of honor at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 1982. Photo: RIA Novosti / Runov
The future of heating technology
The invention of the Eternal Flame burner is, of course, a very serious milestone in Kirill Fedorovich’s career, but not the only one. He begins to remember everything that he invented and developed in his life (boiler houses located on the roofs of multi-storey buildings, burners for burning biogas at aeration stations, devices for burning combinations of natural gas and fuel oil), and considers each invention important and interesting. A man who has worked for many years at MosgazNIIproekt and is trying to make human life warmer in literally, and is now doing the same thing: trying to economically and safely heat as much as possible more people. Reader is the general director of the Ecoteplogaz enterprise. In his work book only two entries.
An interesting fact: at his dacha he installed a domestically produced heating boiler. “My neighbor comes to me and wonders why his foreign boiler, worth 30 thousand dollars, goes out every now and then, while mine, worth 9 thousand rubles, burns properly! — Kirill Fedorovich laughs. — But the fact is that imported units cannot withstand gas pressure drops in the networks, while ours tolerate them well. Changes occur during a sharp cold snap, when gas production increases significantly. Nothing can be done about this fact; these are the characteristics of our climate. Russian developers of heating equipment know this and provide for such a nuance in their products.”
According to Reeder, the future of thermal engineering lies in hydrogen fuel. Scientists have been working on the problem of burning hydrogen for many years, and sooner or later they will solve it. Reader has no plans to retire yet. His work experience has already spanned 55 years, but there is no talk of rest in the foreseeable future. “No, I won’t retire, it’s boring! - he says. - I get up in the morning with good mood, I always go to work with pleasure, which I love very much, and along the way I make plans for the day. In general, a lot makes me happy.”
This is " perpetual motion machine"The inventor of the Eternal Flame himself.
Honoring memory Great Victory should not be limited to one single May day a year. To ensure that the heroes’ feat remains in the people’s consciousness for a long time, memorials with a flame continuously maintained in special burners were built throughout the country. The most famous of them is located in the capital of Russia. Therefore, the story of where the Eternal Flame came from to Moscow deserves a separate story.
History of the custom in ancient times
Europeans are not unique in attaching mournful meaning to flames:
- IN Ancient Iran there was a tradition of "atara" or "divine spark". A Zoroastrian priest took part in the lighting ceremony;
- A constantly burning flame on the outer altar was an integral attribute of religious rituals in Jerusalem. In modern Israel the custom has been renewed and is carried out in every synagogue;
- The Cherokee Indian tribe celebrated similar traditions throughout its history until it was subjected to genocide by the Americans. IN modern USA there is a replica of the Cherokee Eternal Flame (Red Clay State Historic Park, Tennessee);
- IN Ancient China lighting the family altar was a tribute to ancestors;
- The flame was continuously maintained in the ancient Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the ancient Roman Temple of Vesta.
The extinguishing of the fire was as symbolic as its lighting. This is exactly the action that Alexander the Great performed when conquering the Achaemenid state or the Romans when capturing Greek territories.
The meaning of fire in modern history
In the 20th century, a centuries-old world tradition found a new embodiment as a monument to the victims of military clashes:
- The first gas burner at the grave of an anonymous warrior appeared in 1923 in the capital of France to perpetuate the memory of those who fell on the fields of the First World War;
- The initiative received a wide response from society, politicians and funds mass media. Thanks to this, similar memorials began to appear in other European countries;
- The tragedy of World War II, which claimed the lives of several tens of millions of people, gave new impetus to the construction of such pyrotechnic structures. In 1946, the authorities of Poland liberated from the occupiers decided to light a fire on central square capitals;
- Nine years later the same step was taken Soviet authorities: the memorial appeared in one of settlements Tula region and worked only on memorable dates: February 23, Victory Day and the day of the liberation of the settlement from the Nazi invaders.
In this video, historian Kirill Rodionov will tell you about the history of the appearance of the eternal flame in the capital:
Where did they bring the Eternal Flame to Moscow from?
In 1957, an undying gas flame appeared on the Champ de Mars in Northern capital. It was here that the torch was lit, giving rise to the most famous among similar memorials - Moscow:
- The “Eternal Flame” appeared in the capital on the eve of the 12th anniversary of Victory Day at the Mogila Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden;
- From Leningrad The fire reached Moscow thanks to a relay race in which many Soviet celebrities and war heroes took part. The last in the chain was the disabled pilot Maresyev;
- The opening ceremony was attended by the Secretary General of the Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev himself. At the “X” moment, a funny thing happened: the head of state was unable to bring the torch in time and a strong bang was heard. Brezhnev recoiled in fear and could barely stay on his feet. This moment was carefully cut from the air of the central channel;
- Fire is central part a sculptural composition consisting of a five-pointed star, a military ensign, a laurel branch and a metal military helmet;
- During repair or maintenance work, the flame is transferred to another location. So in 2009, Poklonnaya Hill became its temporary home.
Technical side of the structure
The gas installation to ensure continuous combustion was designed in a company specializing in rocket engines(now known as Energy Corporation). The project and drawings were developed at the Mosgaz Research Institute.
The operating principles of the device have not changed over the past few decades:
- Serves as fuel natural gas, which is supplied through the use of the infrastructure of the state unitary enterprise Mosgaz;
- The gas pipeline is regularly (much more often than household analogues) checked for operability;
- Ignition occurs due to the presence of three electric wick lighters. The installation of several devices at once is caused by the need to provide continuous operation(taking into account the impact of natural, technogenic and anthropogenic factors);
- At first, a special gas service employee monitored the operation of the burner. Subsequently it was created automatic system troubleshooting;
- The installation consumes quite a lot large number fuel - 6 cubic meters/hour - this is several times higher than average household indicators for apartments.
Guard at the Eternal Flame in Moscow
A permanent watch at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was established relatively recently, during the tenure of Boris Yeltsin. The order is:
- The change of guards at the post occurs hourly from eight in the morning to eight in the evening every day;
- The presidential decree established a new military uniform for military personnel on duty: unique raincoats, stripes and headdresses;
- By separate orders of the head of the FSO of Russia, the work schedule and shift of guards can be changed (if there are grounds);
- The Changing of the Guard ceremony is a famous attraction and attracts millions of tourists to the capital. The movements of the sentries are worked out to the smallest movements and are surprisingly synchronized. A similar elaboration of military rituals has been preserved since pre-revolutionary times;
- Until 1997, fasting in the Alexander Garden was established only as part of the celebration memorable dates. Previously (until 1993), there was a watch near the Lenin Mausoleum, where only the best of best soldiers. The guard platoon numbered different years from three dozen to fifty people.
In pre-revolutionary times, the Field of Mars in St. Petersburg was known as a place for parades, marches and ceremonial processions. IN Soviet years an anti-fascist monument was built here, from where the Eternal Flame migrated to Moscow in 1957. Today the capital's memorial is one of the key tourist locations.
For the first time in new history peace The eternal flame was lit at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris, near Arc de Triomphe. The fire appeared in the memorial two years after its grand opening, after which the French sculptor Gregoire Calvet proposed placing it in a special gas burner. With the help of this device, the flame truly became Eternal - now it illuminated the tomb not only during the day, but also at night.
Since 1923, the Eternal Flame at the French memorial has been lit daily and with the participation of World War II veterans.
The tradition of lighting the Eternal Flame was adopted by many states that created city and national monuments - in memory of those who died in the First world war. So, in the 1930-1940s, the Eternal Flame lit up in the Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal, Canada, the USA and Belgium. Then Poland lit it, thus perpetuating the memory of the fallen heroes of World War II, and in Berlin they went even further and installed a glass prism with a fire burning inside over the remains of the unknown German soldier and an unknown concentration camp victim.
Eternal Flame in Russia
In Russia, the Eternal Flame was first lit in Leningrad in 1957 - it was lit at the monument to the “Fighters of the Revolution”, which is located on the Field of Mars. It was this flame that became the source from which they began to ignite war memorials all over Russia, in all Soviet hero cities and cities military glory. Then grand opening The Eternal Flame took place on May 8, 1967 - it was lit at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall
Today many Russian cities The Eternal Flame is lit only in memorable days and on military holidays.
Currently, the lighting of the Eternal Flame in Russia is gradually fading away, since, given the need for urgent funding for many industries, paying for its maintenance seems like burning money. In addition, the Eternal Flame is a complex engineering structure that requires a constant supply of gas and safety, and is also dependent on temperature changes. An additional nail is driven into the situation by the absence legislative framework to consolidate the status of the Eternal Flame and technical regulations for its maintenance. All these factors allow Russian gas companies to charge city authorities a lot of money for supplying gas and servicing the gas burner itself.
Do you love looking at candle fire? Probably few of us will say no. For some reason, the flame has a magical, bewitching effect on a person.
And the flame itself has been something magical since ancient times; one second we see the flame, the next it disappears, only to appear again. Therefore, the ancients believed that fire easily and simply unites the worlds.
When a person dies, the flame of his heart slowly fades away to be rekindled in another world. This is, of course, an image, but from it arose the tradition of lighting a fire in honor of the dead and dead.
To put it even more simply, fire is our memory, eternal fire is eternal memory.
Now, probably, in every city you can see a memorial or monument with an eternal flame.
For the older generation, this is not just a symbol of worship of a feat. This is an eternal connection with the dead, no matter how long ago it happened.
Fire has been considered a symbol of purification since ancient times. Do you think you just keep looking at the candle flame? No.
It turns out that our thoughts, passing through this flame, are also purified, everything superficial, everything unnecessary is burned, everything that remains is your truth. So it is very useful for a person to look at the fire from time to time.
Remember May 9... How the whole country freezes in mute silence, without taking its eyes off the flame of the eternal flame. This minute is a moment of strength for the whole country. At this moment there is an energetic unification of the entire family. Somewhere in some dimension, the gazes of the living and the dead meet.
This is just how they say that the gaze is unseeing..... What a seeing one, just not with an ordinary human eye, but rather with the soul.
In ancient times, when moving to a new house, it was a tradition to bring a pot of fire from the old house. This was done for a reason. This tradition had great meaning. With this fire, the connection with the ancestors, with the lineage of this family, was transferred to the new home.
Remember that a woman is a keeper family hearth? We're just used to thinking now that it's just a metaphor. And in ancient times, the fire in the house had to be constantly maintained, so the family connection was not lost.
It's like looking for someone in the dark with a flashlight. You'll find him faster if he also lights a flashlight, right?
We must always remember that certain traditions do not arise just like that. And if we don’t know something, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist and never happened.
We are simply given this opportunity to forget. Sometimes this gift is useful, sometimes it is not. But we must remember and honor those who have passed on.
And we must not only remember those who gave their lives so that you and I could live and rejoice now. We must be worthy of them.
And when your gaze once again freezes on the flame of a burning fire, you mentally send gratitude and bow. You can rest assured that you will be seen and heard.
It seems to us that main role fire to warm our homes, make our lives more comfortable and cozy. It seems so to us...
And FIRE itself only smiles at human naivety. After all human knowledge Already at the “warm” level, but still far from “hot”.
I am always glad to see you on the pages of the site
For 50 years now, the flame of the Eternal Flame near the walls of the Kremlin has not been able to blow out the wind, cover the snow and pour in the rain. It is inextinguishable. However, this is not a miracle, but a complex technical device. On February 22, late in the evening, I was able to observe a unique moment - the ceremonial maintenance of the burner of the Sacred Flame, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Eternal Flame in the Alexander Garden.
A little educational history. The first “Eternal Flame” in the USSR was lit in the village of Pervomaisky, Shchekinsky district, Tula region on May 6, 1955 in memory of those who fell in the Great Patriotic War. However, the Eternal in every sense These words cannot be used to describe it, since its combustion regularly stopped. The first truly Eternal (never stopped burning) fire in the USSR was the fire lit on November 6, 1957 on the Field of Mars in Leningrad. Three Eternal Flames are currently burning in Moscow.
The eternal flame at the walls of the Kremlin was solemnly lit on May 8, 1967 by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, who accepted the torch from the Hero Soviet Union military pilot Alexei Maresyev. Historical photo:
The MOSGAZ museum still preserves the portable gas torch with which Brezhnev lit the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The torch consists of a metal body, inside of which there is a liquefied gas cartridge and a burner. The torch is still operational.
To maintain the constant burning of the flame of the Eternal Flame, it is necessary to carry out preventive maintenance of the unique gas burner device. By the way, from the very first day of the lighting of the Eternal Flame at the walls of the Kremlin, for half a century now, the MOSGAZ company has been servicing it.
To prevent the flame from extinguishing during maintenance work, it was transferred to another burner using a special torch. The torch was carried by the developer of the Eternal Flame burner, Honored Inventor of the Russian Federation, Kirill Reader.
The temporary gas burner device is a smaller copy of the main burner. And it also has its own unique story, because it was thanks to him that in 2010 the sacred flame returned to the Alexander Garden after the reconstruction of the memorial from its temporary stay on Poklonnaya Hill.
Just in case of a fire, a candle is also lit nearby.
The star is lifted and taken to the side.
The star, by the way, is also not simple, but was created using space technologies at the country’s leading rocket enterprise - now RSC Energia named after Korolev.
Locksmiths are allowed to work highest category. They check the igniters, which are under high voltage.
In total, the burner design includes three igniters, which provide triple redundancy so that the Eternal Flame burns in any weather.
The burner of the Eternal Flame is supplied with ordinary natural gas, which is present in the homes of Muscovites. But it burns not with blue, but with bright yellow flames near the Kremlin wall, precisely because of the design of the burner.
I found an infographic on the Internet that clearly shows the burner design. Thanks AiF
After the procedure was completed, the entire structure was reassembled.
At the end, the flame of the Eternal Flame was lit by the head of MOSGAZ Hasan Gasangadzhiev and a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and gas sector Viktor Volkov
The current inspection of all systems is special - timed to coincide with Defender of the Fatherland Day and the half-century anniversary of the monument itself, so all Russian federal television channels decided to capture this moment.
February 23, as always old tradition, at the Eternal Flame, Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the memory dead soldiers, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...
