Marriages in the USSR

November 1, 1959 in Leningrad, in a magnificent mansion on the Promenade des Anglais, 28 (then the embankment of the Red Fleet) was the first in the USSR Wedding Palace. The news of this event immediately spread throughout the country, which in addition to the strict registry offices knew nothing. It was very unusual and really important event for Soviet citizens.

We have collected some interesting facts and photos dedicated to the tradition of marriage in the USSR.

November 1, 1959 at exactly 12 o'clock before Kalashnikovs Vadim losifovich and Lyudmila Vasilyevna march to the sound of Mendelssohn opened the doors of the grand hall of the Palace of weddings.

Everything was modest - crinoline dress, ring one for two and Komsomolsk discreet kiss. But you can imagine how happy the couple feel! Leningrad Wedding Palace or "Palace of happy" until 1917 was apart of the Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov. After World War II the building housed the design bureau. And the opening of the Palace of the building was decorated in a fitting, "Soviet" style: on a table covered with a red cloth, stood a bust of Lenin on the walls hung portraits of members of the Politburo. Above all this stood the chair, just painted red with the coat of arms of the Soviet Union.

Of course, the first in the country Palace wanted to get a lot bride and groom.

1963. According to some witnesses weddings of the time, a visit to Leningrad Palace with direct "participation" in the ceremony even included in the program of the visit of Finnish tourists in the northern capital.

60s, the usual Soviet bride was brought to the place of registration of marriage.

Of course, at the "grand" car - "The Seagull".

And this is a signature certificate in the average registry office. By the way, with 50 years in order to increase the birth rate in the country, the Soviet government strongly supports the desire of citizens to formalize their relationship. On the bachelors who wish to live in the "civil marriage" and feel it imposes tax blank.

And families, on the contrary, helped: State welcomed each new marriage and even paid the money to buy wedding rings. Young families have benefits and free housing.

Speaking of tradition, the wedding ceremony itself, it is worth noting that despite the endemic "standardization" in the republics of the former Soviet Union maintained its folk and religious customs: in Tajikistan, even 40 years after the victory of Soviet power, no one could see the faces of the bride during the ceremony.

In some regions of the multinational Union wedding ritual looked very bright and colorful. For example, the Georgian bride should have been able not only to stop a galloping horse, but also if necessary to ride.

And in the Baltic States - on the contrary, the groom had to impress the bride, after washing her feet.

Young people, in turn, had tried everything possible to diversify the wedding: it was believed that in order to save his future wife from evil spirits, the husband should make her a house in her arms. BAM builders and do, but a few other reasons - to keep white shoes wife of dirt.

Photo Soviet wedding, made in 1977 for the magazine National Geographic.

Interesting details about the "marriage" terminology denote cohabitation "civil marriage" is relatively recent. In Soviet times, a civil marriage was called marriage recorded in the civil status registry office (hence the name has gone ...). Basically in the USSR there were only two types of marriage: civil and church ...

In order not to get confused during the last census in Russia entered describe two types of marriage, "civil" and "official».

Obligatory photo shoot the newlyweds on the Red Square in Moscow.

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