Builder's Day

Day builder - one of the few holidays, so widely celebrated throughout Russia. Now, few people will recall when, and for what reason, he appeared on the calendar. Day of the builder in the Soviet Union was first officially marked on the twelfth of August one thousand nine hundred and fifty-six. On the eve, on September 6th, 1955, a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council was issued, on the establishment of an annual celebration of the "Day of the Builder". It was prescribed to celebrate it in August, on the second Sunday of the month.

Why did the day of builders appear exactly in those years?

Simply at that time, the authorities finally paid attention to the terrible situation with housing that existed in the country, and decided to significantly accelerate the pace of construction. This goal was akin to the conquest of the cosmos, because to provide up to 1980 with housing, and not just housing, but as a separate apartment, millions of families were planned. This was the beginning of the construction of the so-called "Khrushchev". Later, another decision was followed, which concerned the elimination of excesses in the design and construction. At that time, they began to struggle against the cult of Stalin's personality , so what was called "Stalin's Empire" was forbidden: porticoes, colonnades, turrets. Justified such a ban by saying that these excesses greatly slow down the pace of construction. Also recommended to significantly reduce the area of the auxiliary premises.

These legislative acts led to the appearance of such a holiday as the Builder's Day. Immediately organized the All-Union celebration, and this is not surprising. After all, in those days the whole Union resembled one huge construction. In the newspapers of that time they wrote that in Moscow they celebrated the Day of the Builder with mass festivities, reports with exhibitions, lectures. The main events unfolded in the Gorky Park, where the builders of the Leninsky district of Moscow assembled, built the ensemble of buildings of the Moscow State University, the Vladimir Lenin Stadium and the south-western sleeping areas of the capital. At this meeting, a commitment was made to hand over two hundred and ten thousand square meters of living space by the 20th of December this year.

According to the tradition that developed at that time, before the holidays, socialist competitions were unfolding. Thanks to shock work at that time, we still use such remarkable buildings as, for example, the stadium "Luzhniki", which was erected for the first anniversary of the celebration of the Day of the builder.

Like many other holidays, this date has its own traditions. And one of the best among them is the surrender of new objects for the Builder's Day. To this day, none of these holidays can take place without the opening of new residential complexes, bridges, hospitals and schools. And by the year 2000 the church of Christ the Savior was given in Moscow.

There is also a tradition of initiation into builders. Usually it happens in this way: for the beginning of the new one, they are fed bread and salt, which symbolizes the "pud of salt" that you will have to eat while mastering your specialty. After that, he will have to hold his hands over the cup with the fire burning in it in order to feel how "hot" work he will have in the future. Then a helmet is put on his head, and he utters the builder's oath. Sometimes the neophyte is knocked on the bricks with a brick.

And, for example, in the Arctic Circle, this humorous ceremony is conducted by Nord himself, the lord of the North with his entourage. He emerges from the helicopter arriving in front of the rows of young builders, his suite grabs the commanders of student detachments and with laughter drags them inside the sham rock, where they come out with the diplomas of dedication, also each is handed over a piece of Norilsk ore, reinforced on a stand.

Today, the construction industry is beginning to revive, as housing construction has received the status of the National Priority Project. And this means a significant increase in construction volumes and an even larger celebration of the Builder's Day.