%0 Conference Paper
%A Ferguson, James N.
%B ICOMOS 19th General Assembly and Scientific Symposium "Heritage and Democracy"
%C New Delhi, India
%D 2018
%F icomos:1984
%K reconciliation
%K conflicts
%K cultural identity
%K cultural significance
%K russian
%K soviet architecture
%K post-soviet countries
%K soviet modernism
%K modernism
%K architectural heritage
%K sculptures
%K debates
%K contemporary history
%K Lithuania
%K Socialist realism
%T The Green Bridge: Coming to Terms with Vilnius’ Soviet Legacy
%U http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1984/
%X During the summer of 2015, the new Vilnius mayor had the Soviet-era sculptures removed  from the Green Bridge. Yet, much of this legacy remains in buildings throughout the city. Some of  these buildings are even protected under the Department of Cultural Heritage because of their  architectural uniqueness or role they played in the independence movement, known as Sajūdis, between  1988 and 1991.  This paper addresses the approach the city has taken with regard to its Soviet legacy. Municipal officials,  architects and historians have tried to determine what place these immovable objects have in the  UNESCO world heritage city, as well as the ramifications of the city’s post WWII history. The Green  Bridge and several key buildings will be examined, as they have served as lightning rods in this often  heated debate. Vilnius’ Russian-speaking community will also be studied, as parliament members  representing this group voiced their opposition to the removal of these sculptures and other actions by  the city.  As Lithuania approaches its centennial as a modern state, these are questions that define its national  identity. Vilnius is at the centre of this discourse, as the city has often found itself divided in opinion,  wrestling not only with its Soviet past, but Polish and Jewish past as well. The author, who has been  living in Vilnius for 20 years, provides a dispassionate voice to these contentious debates, which have  often spilled out into the international media casting unfavourable light on the city.  In conclusion, this paper will demonstrate that reconciliation is possible when the conflicting parties  choose to bury their ideological differences, rather than use incidents like the removal of the Soviet-era  sculptures from the Green Bridge as a means to highlight these differences.