World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.
The Soviet Banner of Victory (Russian: , romanized: Znamya Pobedy) was the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 1 May 1945, the day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide. It was raised by three Soviet soldiers: Alexei Berest, Mikhail Yegorov, and Meliton Kantaria.
The Victory Banner, made under battlefield conditions, is the official symbol of the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. It is also one of the national treasures of Russia. The Cyrillic inscription reads:
150th Rifle, Order of Kutuzov 2nd class, Idritsa Division, 79th Rifle Corps, 3rd Shock Army, 1st Belorussian Front.
Although this flag was not the only one to be hoisted on the Reichstag, it was the first and only survivor of all the "official" flags specially prepared to be raised there.
According to the Law of the Russian Federation, the Banner of Victory is to be stored forever in a place which provides its safety and public availability.
The Führerbunker (German pronunciation: [ˈfyːʁɐˌbʊŋkɐ]) was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters (Führerhauptquartiere) used by Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Hitler took up residence in the Führerbunker on 16 January 1945, and it became the centre of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. Hitler married Eva Braun there on 29 April 1945, less than 40 hours before they committed suicide.
After the war, both the old and new Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets. The underground complex remained largely undisturbed until 1988–89, despite some attempts at demolition. The excavated sections of the old bunker complex were mostly destroyed during reconstruction of that area of Berlin. The site remained unmarked until 2006, when a small plaque was installed with a schematic diagram. Some corridors of the bunker still exist but are sealed off from the public.