Liechtenstein · LI

Russian Monument

On a quiet lane in the hamlet of Hinterschellenberg, just a few metres from Liechtenstein's border with Austria, stands the Russian Monument (German: Russen-Denkmal). It is an unassuming stone: a simple pedestal carrying a round bronze plaque. Yet this small memorial marks one of the most remarkable episodes in the modern history of Europe's fourth-smallest state — the night in May 1945 when the war-weary remnants of an anti-Stalinist Russian army slipped across the frontier seeking asylum. For travellers drawn to lesser-known Second World War sites, the monument offers something a grand battlefield memorial rarely does: an intimate story set in a still-rural village, where you can stand on the very spot the column crossed over and read the tale told in the plaque's own words. Combined with the nearby Chapel of St. George and the historic hilltop village of Schellenberg, it makes for a short, reflective stop on a day around Liechtenstein's Unterland region.