From the “gated communities” series, “Rätsel Russland” (Enigma – Russia) shows the square in front of St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace, which was surprisingly empty during the October Revolution. Contrary to later propagandistic portrayals, only about 25,000-30,000 people (according to Trotsky, head of the Petrograd Soviet at the time) were actively involved in the uprising in October 1917, in the city center. At the main tsarist residence there was only sporadic firing to repel looters. The officials of the Provisional Government signed declarations to the revolutionaries that they would not engage in further political activity henceforth and were allowed to go home. The famous shot of the armored cruiser Aurora from the Neva was only theatrical thunder, the main gate unlocked during the revolution.
The black tail stands for Popper’s falsificationism.
