What color is the star on the Spasskaya Tower? Ruby stars of the Kremlin

Exactly 80 years ago, the famous ruby ​​stars were installed on the towers of the Moscow Kremlin, which became a symbol of the capital. What they replaced, how much they weigh and why Nikita Mikhalkov needed to extinguish them - the Moscow 24 portal has collected 10 of the most interesting facts.

Fact 1. Before the stars there were eagles

Since the 17th century, gilded double-headed royal eagles made of copper have risen on the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Nikolskaya towers of the Moscow Kremlin.

They have not survived to this day. By decision of the new government, on October 18, 1935, the eagles were removed and later melted down. Historians of that time decided that they were of no value and the metal was simply disposed of.

Fact 2. The first stars were installed on four towers

The first Kremlin star was installed on October 23, 1935 on the Spasskaya Tower. From October 25 to 27, stars appeared on the Trinity, Nikolskaya and Borovitskaya towers.

Fact 3. Before ruby ​​stars, they were copper and had gems.

Initially, the stars were made of red sheet copper, which was mounted on a metal frame. Each star weighed approximately one ton.

Bronze emblems of the hammer and sickle were placed on the stars. The emblems were inlaid with Ural stones - rock crystal, topaz, amethyst, aquamarine, sandrite, alexandrite. Each stone weighed up to 20 grams.

Fact 4. The spire of the Northern River Station is crowned with the Kremlin star-gem

The gem stars were dismantled shortly before the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution. One of them, taken from the Spasskaya Tower, was subsequently installed on the spire of the Northern river station in Moscow.

Fact 5. Ruby stars on five towers

The gem stars were replaced by new ones - ruby ​​ones. They were installed on November 2, 1937. The former stars dimmed, and the gems did not shine too brightly.

Fact 6. There are lighting lamps inside the stars

Ruby stars glow from within. To illuminate them, the Moscow Electric Lamp Plant (MELZ) developed special lamps in 1937.
The power of electric lamps in the stars on the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, Nikolskaya towers was 5 kW, on Vodovzvodnaya and Borovitskaya - 3.7 kW.

Fact 7. Stars have different sizes

Photo: TASS/Vasily Egorov and Alexey Stuzhin

The Kremlin's ruby ​​stars have different sizes. The beam span on the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers is 3.75 meters, on the Troitskaya tower - 3.5, on Borovitskaya - 3.2, and on Vodovzvodnaya - 3 meters.

Fact 8. The stars rotate like a weather vane

At the base of each star are special bearings. Thanks to them, a star weighing one ton can rotate in the wind like a weather vane. This is done to reduce the load at high air currents. Otherwise, the star may fall from the spire.

Fact 9. During the war, the stars were covered with a tarpaulin

The stars were first extinguished during the Great Patriotic War. They were a good guide for enemy aircraft. The stars were covered in tarpaulin. Subsequently, they were extinguished again at the request of director Nikita Mikhalkov for the sake of filming one of the episodes of “The Barber of Siberia.”

Fact 10. Since 2014, the stars have been undergoing another stage of reconstruction

In 2014, the Spasskaya Tower hosted comprehensive reconstruction stars: she got new system lighting with several metal halide lamps with a total power of 1000 W.

In 2015, the lamps in the star of the Trinity Tower were replaced, and in 2016 - in the Nikolskaya Tower. In 2018, renovations will be carried out on the Borovitskaya Tower.

In the evening and at night, bright scarlet stars burn over the Moscow Kremlin - symbols of our country’s socialist past. These five-pointed lamps, made of special “ruby” glass, were installed to replace the Armorial Eagles Russian Empire in the 1930s of the last century.

Ideas about replacing the royal eagles on the Kremlin towers with stars were repeatedly expressed immediately after October Revolution. But such a reconstruction was associated with too much money and therefore could not be carried out for a long time.

In August 1935, it was published in the central press next message TASS: "Advice People's Commissars The USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks decided by November 7, 1935 to remove 4 eagles located on the Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Borovitskaya, Trinity towers of the Kremlin wall, and 2 eagles from the building Historical Museum.

By the same date, it was decided to install a five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle on the indicated 4 Kremlin towers.”

The first star replaced the eagle on the Spasskaya Tower. This event took place on October 24, 1935, and the next day the second star was installed on the spire of the Trinity Tower. On October 26 and 27, the stars shone over the Nikolskaya and Borovitskaya towers. On Vodovzvodnaya the star appeared later than others - only in May 1937.

The design and production of the first Kremlin stars were carried out by two Moscow factories, as well as workshops of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. The drawings were created by an outstanding decorative artist, academician Fedor Fedorovich Fedorovsky, who not only calculated their shape and size, but also sketched the finishing options.

It was decided to make the first Kremlin stars from stainless steel and red copper. In the middle of each of them, on both sides, the emblems of the Soviet state, lined with precious stones - the hammer and sickle - were supposed to sparkle.

For presentation to the leaders of the party and government, full-size models of all four stars were made, which, it must be said, were different from each other decoration.

On the edges of the star of the Spasskaya Tower there were rays emanating from the center; on the Trinity star - the rays were made in the form of ears of corn. The “Borovitskaya” star consisted of two contours inscribed one into the other, and the rays of the Nikolskaya Tower star had no pattern at all.

The country's leaders appreciated the splendor shown to them and agreed to make the stars. True, with one condition: that the symbols of the country be rotating - let Muscovites and guests of the capital admire them from everywhere. Soon several factories received government orders of particular importance.

The supporting structure of the huge stars was made in the form of a light but durable stainless steel frame, on which were placed framing decorations made of red copper sheets. The red metal was plated with 18 to 20 microns of gold.

On each star, a hammer and sickle emblem measuring 2 meters and weighing 240 kilograms was attached on both sides. The frame of the emblem was made of bronze and stainless steel. Separately attached to it were precious stones set in gilded silver, making up the hammer and sickle.

Two hundred and fifty of the best jewelers in Moscow and Leningrad worked on the creation of these emblems for one and a half months. In total, about 7 thousand Ural gems - topazes, aquamarines, amethysts and alexandrites, ranging in size from 20 to 200 carats - were used to make the eight emblems.

The craftsmen installed special bearings manufactured at the First Bearing Plant at the base of each star. Thanks to this, the stars, despite their significant weight (about a ton), could easily rotate and withstand any wind.

The task of lifting the stars was entrusted to the specialists of the All-Union office Stalprommekhanizatsiya, who found an original solution - they designed and built a special crane for each tower, which could be installed on its upper tier. The operation to install one star took about two hours.

However, the first stars of the Kremlin did not decorate its towers for long. Under the influence of atmospheric precipitation, within a year the Ural gems faded and the gilding ceased to shine.

In May 1937, it was decided to install new stars - luminous, ruby ​​ones. The star, which in 1935–1937 crowned the Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower, was moved to the spire of the capital’s Northern River Station.

The new stars received double glazing: the inner one was made of milky glass, which scatters light well, and the outer one was made of ruby, bright red glass, 6–7 mm thick. This was done because in bright sunlight the red color of the stars would appear black from the earth.

There are no precious stones in them: the resemblance to a ruby ​​is given to the glass by the selenium added to it during cooking.

The lamps of the Kremlin stars deserve special attention. They were developed by special order at the Moscow Electric Lamp Plant. They contain two filaments connected in parallel. Therefore, even if one of them burns out, the lamp will not stop shining.

During the war, in order to camouflage the capital, the Kremlin stars were covered with tarpaulin. When the disguise was removed, it turned out that the glasses of the stars were severely damaged. They were probably hit more than once by anti-aircraft artillery shells defending Moscow from German air raids.

A complete restoration of the Kremlin stars was carried out at the end of 1945 - beginning of 1946. The craftsmen resumed gilding the frame, and made the glass three-layered: a crystal layer appeared between the ruby ​​and milk glass. The Kremlin stars have become even brighter, stronger and more beautiful.

A few years ago, ruby ​​stars were in once again underwent restoration - craftsmen examined the lamps and replaced some cracked glass.

Stars are usually washed every five years. To maintain reliable operation of auxiliary equipment, scheduled preventative maintenance is carried out monthly; more serious ones are performed every eight years.

The Kremlin star system has a single control center, which is located in the Trinity Tower. Twice a day, the operation of the lamps is visually checked, and their fans are also switched. There is no threat of a power outage for the five-pointed Kremlin luminaries - they have an autonomous power supply.

The five towers of the Moscow Kremlin, Borovitskaya, Troitskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya and Vodovzvodnaya, still shine with red stars, but the towers of the State Historical Museum are now proudly crowned with double-headed eagles. This is how the heirs of the glorious past of our great country coexist peacefully on Red Square.

The beautiful ruby ​​stars fit so harmoniously into the appearance of the five ancient Moscow towers that they seem to be their natural continuation. But for many years no less beautiful double-headed eagles sat on the Kremlin towers.

Huge gilded double-headed eagles have appeared on four Kremlin towers since the mid-50s of the seventeenth century.

Spasskaya Tower with an eagle

Spasskaya Tower with an eagle and mausoleum. 1925

In the first years after the revolution, the Bolsheviks tried to destroy all the symbols of the old world, but the eagles on the Kremlin towers were not touched, and the Soviet government did not reach them. Although Lenin repeatedly reminded of the need to dismantle them, this operation required a lot of money, was very technically complex, and at first the Bolsheviks could not decide what to replace the eagles with? There were various proposals - flags, the coat of arms of the USSR, an emblem with a hammer and sickle... Finally, we settled on stars.

In the spring of 1935, watching the planes fly by at the parade, Stalin was especially irritated by the sight of the royal eagles spoiling the whole picture.

Parade on Red Square. 1935

At the end of the summer of 1935, a TASS message was published: "The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided by November 7, 1935 to remove 4 eagles located on the Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Borovitskaya, Trinity towers of the Kremlin wall, and 2 eagles from the building of the Historical Museum. By the same date, it was decided to install the indicated 4 towers of the Kremlin a five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle."

They decided to make all the stars different, each with its own unique design. A smooth star without a pattern was designed for the Nikolskaya Tower.

When the models were ready, the country's leaders came to look at them and gave the go-ahead for the production of real stars. Their only wish was to make the stars rotate so that they could be admired from everywhere.
They decided to make the stars from high-alloy stainless steel and red copper. The real decoration should have been a symbol sparkling in the sun and under the rays of spotlights Soviet Russia- sickle and hammer. Over the creation of this beauty from huge amount A whole army of jewelers worked for a month and a half to obtain Ural gems.

The stars turned out to be much heavier than the eagles; the weight of each star was about 1000 kg. Before installing them, we had to additionally strengthen the tents on the towers. The structure had to withstand even hurricane wind. And in order for the stars to become rotating, bearings were installed at their base, which were manufactured for this purpose at the First Bearing Plant.

Now the extremely difficult task lay ahead of dismantling the double-headed eagles and then installing huge stars in their place. The towers had a height of 52 to 72 meters, and there were no suitable equipment - high cranes - then. It was necessary to come up with something, and the engineers finally found a way out. A crane was designed separately for each tower, which was installed on the upper tier on a special metal base, specially mounted for this purpose.

Dismantling the eagles

After the eagles were dismantled using this technique, they did not immediately raise the stars in their place, but decided to first show them to Muscovites. To do this, for one day they were put on public display in the Park named after. Gorky.

The eagles, from which the gilding had already been removed, were also placed nearby. Of course, the eagles played next to the sparkling sparkling stars, symbolizing the beauty of the new world.

Double-headed eagles taken from the Nikolskaya and Borovitskaya towers, in the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after. Gorky, October 23, 1935

On October 24, 1935, having thoroughly checked the equipment, we began to slowly raise the star to the Spasskaya Tower. Having reached a height of 70 meters, the winch was stopped, and the climbers, carefully guiding the star, very accurately lowered it onto the support spire. Everything worked out! Hundreds of people who gathered in the square and watched this unique operation applauded the installers.

The star begins to rise

The first Kremlin stars over Moscow

Over the next three days, three more stars were installed, shining on the Nikolskaya, Borovitskaya and Trinity towers.

However, these stars did not appear on the towers for long. Just two years later they lost their shine and became dull - soot, dust and dirt did their job.
It was decided to replace them, and it was recommended to reduce their size, since the first stars still looked rather heavy. The task was set to do this in as soon as possible, to the 20th anniversary of the revolution.

This time it was decided to make the stars from ruby ​​glass and glowing from within, and not from spotlights. The country's best minds were recruited to solve this problem.
The recipe for ruby ​​glass was developed by Moscow glassmaker N.I. Kurochkin - to achieve desired color Selenium was added to glass instead of gold. Firstly, it was cheaper, and secondly, it made it possible to obtain a more saturated and deep color.

And so, on November 2, 1937, new ruby ​​stars lit up on the Kremlin towers. Another star appeared - on the Vodovzvodnaya Tower, and there were five such towers, like the rays of the star.

These stars truly glow from within.

This effect is achieved thanks to special lamps inside them with a power of 5000 watts, made to special order. In addition, they have two filaments, one for safety net. In order to change the lamp, you do not need to climb up to it; you can lower it on a special rod.
The stars have double glazing. The outside is ruby ​​glass for color, and the inside is milky white for better dispersion. Milky white glass is used to prevent ruby ​​glass from appearing too dark in bright light.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin stars went out - they were covered up, since they were an excellent reference point for the enemy. And after the war, when the tarpaulin was removed, it turned out that they had received minor shrapnel damage from an anti-aircraft battery located nearby. The stars had to be sent for restoration, after which they shone even brighter. A new three-layer glazing of the stars was made (ruby glass, frosted glass and crystal), and their gilded frame was also updated. In the spring of 1946, the stars were returned to the towers.

Before the rise of the restored star to the Trinity Tower, March 1946

Once every five years, industrial climbers ascend to the stars to wash them.

It’s interesting that now on Red Square against the backdrop of the Kremlin ruby stars Eagles can be seen again. In the summer of 1997, four eagles returned to their rightful places, which, along with lions and unicorns, adorned the roof of the Historical Museum. The eagles were removed from the museum in 1935, as were the eagles from the Kremlin towers. But these were luckier - they returned.

A copy of the golden Double-Headed Eagle, returned in 1997 to the tower of the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

And in December 2003, the lions and unicorns were also returned, taking their original places on the low towers of the museum.

Unicorn on the building of the Historical Museum

Lions on the building of the Historical Museum

New ruby ​​star

In the fall of 1935, the last symbol of the Russian monarchy - the double-headed eagles on the Kremlin towers - was ordered to live long. Instead, five-pointed stars were installed.

Symbolism

Why the five-pointed star became the symbol of Soviet power is not known for certain, but what is known is that Leon Trotsky lobbied for this symbol. Seriously interested in esotericism, he knew that the star, the pentagram, has a very powerful energy potential and is one of the most powerful symbols. The symbol of the new state could well be the swastika, the cult of which was very strong in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The swastika was depicted on the “Kerenki”, swastikas were painted on the wall of the Ipatiev House by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna before the execution, but by almost the sole decision of Trotsky, the Bolsheviks settled on a five-pointed star. The history of the 20th century will show that the “star” is stronger than the “swastika”... The stars also shone over the Kremlin, replacing the double-headed eagles.

Technique

Placing thousand-kilogram stars on the Kremlin towers was no easy task. The catch was that there was simply no suitable equipment in 1935. The height of the lowest tower, Borovitskaya, is 52 meters, the highest, Troitskaya - 72. There were no tower cranes of this height in the country, but for Russian engineers there is no word “no”, there is the word “must”. Stalprommekhanizatsiya specialists designed and built a special crane for each tower, which could be installed on its upper tier. At the base of the tent, a metal base - a console - was mounted through the tower window. A crane was assembled on it. So, in several stages, the double-headed eagles were first dismantled, and then the stars were erected.

Reconstruction of the towers

The weight of each of the Kremlin stars reached up to a ton. Considering the height at which they were supposed to be located and the sail surface of each star (6.3 sq.m.), there was a danger that the stars would simply be torn out along with the tops of the towers. It was decided to test the towers for durability. Not in vain: the upper ceilings of the tower vaults and their tents have fallen into disrepair. The builders strengthened the brickwork of the upper floors of all towers, and additionally introduced metal connections into the tents of the Spasskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya towers. The tent of the Nikolskaya Tower turned out to be so dilapidated that it had to be rebuilt.

So different and spinning

They didn't make identical stars. The four stars differed from each other in their artistic design. On the edges of the star of the Spasskaya Tower there were rays emanating from the center. On the star of the Trinity Tower, the rays were made in the form of ears of corn. The star of the Borovitskaya Tower consisted of two contours inscribed one into the other, and the rays of the star of the Nikolskaya Tower had no pattern. The stars of the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers were the same in size. The distance between the ends of their beams was 4.5 meters. The stars of the Trinity and Borovitskaya towers were smaller. The distance between the ends of their beams was 4 and 3.5 meters, respectively. Stars are good, but spinning stars are doubly good. Moscow is big, there are a lot of people, everyone needs to see the Kremlin stars. Special bearings manufactured at the First Bearing Plant were installed at the base of each star. Thanks to this, despite their significant weight, the stars could easily rotate, turning to face the wind. By the location of the stars, therefore, one can judge where the wind is blowing from.

Gorky Park

The installation of the Kremlin stars became a real holiday for Moscow. The stars were not taken under cover of darkness to Red Square. The day before they were installed on the Kremlin towers, the stars were put on display in the Park named after. Gorky. Together with mere mortals, the secretaries of the city and district CPSU(b) came to look at the stars; in the light of the spotlights, Ural gems sparkled and the rays of the stars sparkled. The eagles removed from the towers were installed here, clearly demonstrating the dilapidation of the “old” and the beauty of the “new” world.

Ruby

Kremlin stars were not always ruby. The first stars, installed in October 1935, were made of high-alloy stainless steel and red copper. In the middle of each star, on both sides, the hammer and sickle emblems, laid out in precious stones, sparkled. Gems after a year they dimmed, and the stars were too big and did not fit well into architectural ensemble. In May 1937, it was decided to install new stars - luminous, ruby ​​ones. At the same time, another one was added to the four towers with stars - Vodovzvodnaya. Ruby glass was welded at a glass factory in Konstantinovka, according to the recipe of Moscow glassmaker N.I. Kurochkin. It was necessary to cook 500 square meters ruby glass, for which it was invented new technology- “selenium ruby”. Previously, gold was added to glass to achieve the desired color; Selenium is cheaper and the color is deeper.

Lamps

The Kremlin stars not only rotate, but also glow. To avoid overheating and damage, about 600 cubic meters of air per hour are passed through the stars. The stars are not in danger of a power outage because their energy supply is self-sufficient. Lamps for the Kremlin stars were developed at the Moscow Electric Tube Plant. The power of three - on the Spasskaya, Nikolskaya and Troitskaya towers - is 5000 watts, and 3700 watts - on Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya. Each contains two filaments connected in parallel. If one lamp burns out, the lamp continues to light, and a fault signal is sent to the control panel. To change lamps you do not need to go up to the star; the lamp goes down on a special rod directly through the bearing. The entire procedure takes 30-35 minutes. Throughout history, the stars have gone out twice. Once - during the war, the second - during the filming of “The Barber of Siberia”.

She replaced the “Tsar’s Eagle” on the Spasskaya Tower. Next, stars were placed on the Nikolskaya, Borovitskaya and Trinity towers. Then, when replacing the stars in 1937, a fifth star appeared on the Vodovzvodnaya Tower, where state symbols had not been placed before.

Installation of stars on the Kremlin towers

Dismantling the eagles

Double-headed eagles, being the state symbols of Russia, have been on the tops of the tents of the Kremlin towers since the 17th century. About once a century, the gilded copper eagles were changed, as was the image. state emblem. At the time the eagles were removed they were all different years production: the oldest eagle of the Trinity Tower is from 1870, the newest is from the Spasskaya Tower - 1912.

A week later, on June 20, 1930, Gorbunov writes to the secretary of the presidium of the USSR Central Executive Committee A. S. Enukidze:

V.I. Lenin several times demanded the removal of these eagles and was angry that this work was not done - I personally confirm this. I think it would be nice to remove these eagles and replace them with flags. Why do we need to preserve these symbols of tsarism?

With communist greetings,
Gorbunov.

In an extract from the minutes of the meeting of the secretariat of the USSR Central Executive Committee dated December 13, 1931, there is a mention of a proposal to include 95 thousand rubles in the estimate for 1932 for the cost of removing eagles from the Kremlin towers and replacing them with the emblems of the USSR.

While the stars were being made, the builders and installers were solving the main problem - how to actually remove the double-headed eagles from the towers and fix the stars. At that time there were no large high-altitude cranes to help with this operation. Specialists from the all-Union office “Stalprommekhanizatsiya” developed special cranes that were installed directly on the upper tiers of the towers. Through the tower windows at the base of the tents, strong console platforms were built, on which the cranes were assembled. The work of installing the cranes and dismantling the eagles took two weeks.

Finally, on October 18, 1935, all 4 double-headed eagles were removed from the Kremlin towers. Due to the old design of the eagle from the Trinity Tower, it had to be dismantled right at the top of the tower. The work of removing the eagles and raising the stars was carried out by experienced steeplejacks under the guidance and control of the NKVD operational department and the Kremlin commandant Tkalun. The report of the head of the Operations Department of the OGPU Pauker to I.V. Stalin and V.M. Molotov dated November 4, 1935 states: “...I was instructed to remove the eagles from the Kremlin towers and from the Historical Museum by November 7, replacing them with stars. I inform you that this task of the Politburo has been completed..."

Having made sure that the eagles were of no value, the First Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD addressed a letter to L. M. Kaganovich: “I ask for your order: To issue 67.9 kilograms of gold to the NKVD of the USSR for gilding the Kremlin stars. The gold covering of the eagles will be removed and handed over to the State Bank.”

Gem stars

The new gem stars weighed about a ton. The tents of the Kremlin towers were not designed for such a load. The tents of the Spasskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya towers had to be reinforced from the inside with metal supports and pins, on which it was planned to plant the stars. A metal pyramid with a support pin for the star was installed inside the Borovitskaya Tower tent. A strong metal glass was installed at the top of the Trinity Tower. The tent of the Nikolskaya Tower turned out to be so dilapidated that it had to be completely dismantled and rebuilt.

October 24 large number Muscovites gathered on Red Square to watch the installation of a five-pointed star on the Spasskaya Tower. On October 25, a five-pointed star was installed on the spire of the Trinity Tower, and on October 26 and 27 on the Nikolskaya and Borovitskaya towers.

The first stars were made of high-alloy stainless steel and red copper. Electroplating workshops were specially built to gild 130 m² of copper sheets. In the center of the star, the symbol of Soviet Russia - the hammer and sickle - was laid out with Ural gems. The hammer and sickle were covered with gold 20 microns thick; the pattern was not repeated on any of the stars. The star on the Spasskaya Tower was decorated with rays diverging from the center to the tops. The rays of the star installed on the Trinity Tower were made in the form of ears of corn. On the Borovitskaya Tower, the pattern followed the contour of the five-pointed star itself. The star of the Nikolskaya Tower was smooth, without a pattern. However, very soon the stars lost their original beauty. The soot, dust and dirt of the Moscow air, mixing with precipitation, caused the gems to fade, and the gold lost its shine, despite the spotlights illuminating them. In addition, they did not fully fit into the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin due to their size. The stars turned out to be too large and visually hung heavily over the towers.

The star, which was on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin in 1935-1937, was later installed on the spire of the Northern River Station.

Ruby stars

Unlike semi-precious stars, ruby ​​stars only have 3 different patterns(Spasskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya are identical in design), and the frame of each star is a multifaceted pyramid. Each beam of the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers has 8, and the Nikolskaya tower has 12 faces.

Design Features

At the base of each star, special bearings are installed so that, despite their weight (more than 1 t), they can rotate like a weather vane. The “frame” of the stars is made of special stainless steel produced by the Elektrostal plant near Moscow.

Each of the five stars has double glazing: the inner one is made of milk glass, which diffuses light well, and the outer one is made of ruby ​​glass, 6-7 mm thick. This was done for the following purpose: in bright sunlight, the red color of the stars would appear black. Therefore, a layer of milky-white glass was placed inside the star, which allowed the star to look bright and, in addition, made the filaments of the lamps invisible. Stars have different sizes. On Vodovzvodnaya the beam span is 3 m, on Borovitskaya - 3.2 m, on Troitskaya - 3.5 m, on Spasskaya and Nikolskaya - 3.75 m.

Ruby glass was welded at the Avtosteklo plant in the city of Konstantinovka, according to the recipe of Moscow glassmaker N.I. Kurochkin. It was necessary to weld 500 m² of ruby ​​glass, for which a new technology was invented - “selenium ruby”. Before this, to achieve the desired color, gold was added to glass, which was inferior to selenium in cost and color saturation.

The lamps for the Kremlin stars were developed by special order at the Moscow Electric Lamp Plant; they were developed by specialists from the lighting laboratory. Each lamp contains two filaments connected in parallel, so even if one of them burns out, the lamp will not stop shining. The lamps were manufactured at the Peterhof precision technical stones plant. The power of electric lamps in the stars on the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, Nikolskaya towers is 5 kW, on Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya - 3.7 kW.

When solving the problem of uniform illumination of the star, they immediately abandoned the idea of ​​​​installing many light bulbs inside the star, therefore, to ensure uniform distribution of the light flux, the lamp is enclosed in many glass prisms. For the same purpose, the glass at the ends of the rays of stars has a lower density than in the center. During the day, the stars are illuminated more strongly than at night.

The central control panel for star ventilation is located in the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin. Every day, twice a day, the operation of the lamps is visually checked, and the blower fans are also switched. To protect the stars from overheating, a ventilation system was developed, consisting of an air purification filter and two fans, one of which is a backup. Power outages are not a problem for ruby ​​stars, since they are self-powered.

Stars are usually washed every 5 years. To maintain reliable operation of auxiliary equipment, scheduled preventative maintenance is carried out monthly; more serious work is carried out every 8 years.

For the second time in its history, the stars were extinguished in 1996 during the filming of a Moscow night scene for the film “The Barber of Siberia” at the personal request of director Nikita Mikhalkov.

Red stars abroad USSR

Many socialist countries erected red stars over their public institutions as a symbol of state policy and ideology. From 1954 to 1990 over Central house The BKP in the Bulgarian capital Sofia was dominated by a red star - an exact copy of the Soviet ones that were erected above the Moscow Kremlin. Today this star can be seen in the Museum of Socialist Art. The red star was installed on the parliament building in Budapest, built in 1885-1904, and dismantled in 1990.

Since the 1990s, there has been public debate about the appropriateness of Soviet symbols in the Kremlin. After the breakup Soviet Union Kremlin stars were not dismantled, unlike other (hammer and sickle, coats of arms on palaces, etc.) Soviet symbols in the Kremlin. The attitude towards ruby ​​stars in society is ambiguous.

Supporters of the return of double-headed eagles

Row social movements(“Return”, “People’s Council”, “For Faith and Fatherland”, etc.), as well as the Russian Orthodox Church, take a certain position, declaring “that it would be fair to return to the Kremlin towers the double-headed eagles that have adorned them for centuries " In 2010, in connection with the opening of the gate icons of the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers, debates about the appropriateness of ruby ​​stars flared up with renewed vigor.

On September 10, 2010, a month before the 75th anniversary of the installation of stars over the Kremlin, members of the Return Foundation approached the president with a proposal to return the double-headed eagle to the Spasskaya Tower. The appeal caused a public discussion, but there was no response from the president, and then the opportunity to return the Kremlin eagles was completely canceled due to mass protests from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, as well as due to the elections to the State Duma and the elections of the President of Russia, held on December 4, 2011 and March 4 2012, respectively.

Supporters of star conservation

The museum community is skeptical about the idea of ​​replacing stars with eagles:

Consistently throughout the discussion, the replacement of stars was also opposed