Vladimir Lenin

This thing is pretty crazy to see! It’s like European History was dropped right here in Freemont! Kind of a strange thing, but I feel like it fits perfect with the neighborhood and everything perfectly! One of many sights I enjoyed in the area earlier today on a day in Seattle!

Yeah… if you are in the neighborhood… and you most likely will if you are taking pictures of the Troll, swing by and get a selfie with Vlad.

This was a cool (and huge!) statue and I’m glad we got to see it, but I was really saddened to see that it’s been vandalized. The blood red hands didn’t bother me, but the «For Sale» text sprawled across the front of the statue was annoying. I’m not a native Seattle resident, but has it always been like this? In either event, it’s a great place to visit if you’re already in Fremont, but I certainly wouldn’t trek out here just for this.

Saw the statue of Lenin. It’s huge so if you want to take photos be sure you bring a good camera cause you will be walking across the street. Also bring a friend.

This is not something you would expect to see loitering a street corner in America, but certainly not out of place for a place as eclectic as Fremont.
While the man the statue is modeled after is less than favored, the history behind this price of art is pretty interesting and worth a read.
It’s just one of those iconic neighborhood things you have to stop and see.

How awesome that Lenin is chillin’ in Seattle these days.
So the story goes, the short version, that someone was visiting an Eastern European country and saw this statue face down in the mud. Instead of taking a picture and moving on, he mortgages his home and pays to transport this beauty to the states. Expecting to have it in an exhibit, it somehow finds its way on the sidewalk.
That’s what my husband said anyway. He read the plaque.

Well, at the very least he’s getting some discourse going.
I glossed over going to see the Lenin statue on my previous trip, but decided to come by on my latest one after watching a piece on it on the Travel Channel.
Lewis Carpenter, a teacher and United States veteran, found it face down in the muck and saw it as something that needed to be preserved for one reason or another. He proceeded to give up practically every red cent he ever had to get this seven-​ton bronze effigy home. And then he died.
Stories like that always strike a chord with me. There’s just something beautiful about all of that effort poured into doing something despite knowing all the flack he surely knew he’d get. All for the sake of rescuing a piece of history he considered well done by the Slavic artist, Emil Venkov.
Consider more of the meaning behind the statue’s being there for you to see. Carpenter didn’t expend himself getting it here as a shrine to Communism, but rather because he believed this artist’s work must be saved no matter the cost or motivation behind it. We have chunks of the Berlin Wall on display all over the place and not one eyelash bats. Put a likeness up and it’s the talk of the town.
Visiting the statue, I was amused someone had painted his free hand red. The question is, though, was it someone who loved or hated Lenin? I mean, of course there’s the whole, «Innocent blood is on his hands,» comment, but it could similarly mean he’s spreading Communism’s red with his touch. It reminded me of the defaced Lenin bust the Wende Museum has (
).
A couple artists were sitting at the base of the statue, sketching. A woman in a red dress, nearby, had laid out a blanket and was attempting to sell books. Most people just walk past the statue without looking up at it, part of the landscape in Fremont.
Hey, I’m no fan of Lenin or his successors either, my friend, and you’re free to hate the statue’s placement all you want. Since it sounds like it’s only a temporary placement, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Wende bought and acquired it.

Comrade, why you here so far from Mother Russia?
It’s a statue, nice, big, bronze…

This statue of a communist pioneer is ironically in such a capitalist place. Amazon, Boeing and Microsoft aren’t exactly comrades. But Lenin stands tall with an iron fist over the Fremont neighborhood. You can easily get a picture with him.
It is next to a café, which feels like a commune. It has this sense that radical ideas are being planned. But are these radical ideas to make people more accepting of abortion by 2%? Yes, so this isn’t exactly Lenin.
Nevertheless, Reagan would have you hanged. Joseph McCarthy would have all involved hung, drawn and quartered in a fire, with their still living parts are crushed into a rope from that stretches from the Space Needle to the Hanjin shipyards. You know Scoop Jackson helped out the Vietnam War so he could give Washington lots of jobs, so this statue represents relief.
Seattle looks at this as art. But it is trying to spit in the often hillbilly eyes of this country and at least turn us a little bit more leftwards. We don’t have universal healthcare, so much for eventual comrades. For that it can be admired and the communists will not bite any time soon.
The statue of Lenin is healthy for all comrades.

This is one of those head scratching things you run into in Fremont, that gives the neighborhood all it’s character: a larger than life authentic Soviet statue of Lenin. Yes, there’s a reason that it’s there and a plaque to explain it, and I’m sure some folks want the statue removed (it’s not like he was a nice guy, right?)
But then again, art is supposed to make you think, and bumping into Lenin in Fremont surely does that. Plus, you can put Santa hats on him at Christmas.

Lenin is basically the Russian equivalent of Hitler. I’m not sure why on earth the Microsoft guy felt it was necessary to tote this giant statue all the way back home to Seattle. Or how he managed to do so.
From an artistic perspective, it’s a gigantic bronze statue with the iconic red hand. It’s placed at a Y-​intersection in front of a group of stores. The figure looks like he’s about to continue stoically marching off to something important. It creates a bit of an ominous mood.
But this intersection and part of town is not an art museum, or even a history museum. I have no idea why it was put here to begin with, or why it still remains. It’s worth a drive-​by to see it in person, but I don’t think it really needs to even be here.

I walk by this statue many days and never think too much of it. But, really it’s quite unique and to know it use to be in someone’s front yard, remarkable. Socialism may be coming to Seattle soon and this statue will then truly be the «Center of the Universe».

I am a Fremonster at heart even though I don’t live or work there. I frequent the neighborhood for a variety of reasons and always find it a fascinating place to hang out. I walk by Lenin often and have always been struck by the size and overall impression the statue gives.
I also enjoy seeing if Lenin has been decorated in anyway. I’m not sure who does it but can appreciate the creativity and effect. For instance, I was there last week at night and he had a large star and lights on his head and neck. It’s a little piece of character that makes Fremont special.

This is actually a pretty cool statue. It’s huge, and is a great addition to Fremont! Seattle!
Another bonus, a free thing to do in Seattle! And, there are also other things you can do while you’re visiting the statue, like visit the Troll, the center of the universe sign, or the chocolate place nearby.
Lucky for Bong and I, we had a car so getting here was easy. And finding parking was easy. Plus it was near to where we were staying.
I would bring people back here if I had to be a Seattle Tour Guide.