Belarus-Minsk-Army Palace and Tank Monument-2

A House of Officers (), sometimes officially referred to as the Central House of Officers or Officer Houses, is a military and cultural institution originating in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

and still present today in the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

and the militaries of many

Post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

. Being the Russian/Soviet equivalent to

military officers' club An officers' club, known within the military as an O club is similar to a gentlemen's club for commissioned officers of the armed forces. Few officers' clubs have survived the end of the Cold War. Origins Officers' clubs are an artifact of the f ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it effectively serves as cultural center serving to represent the military and to improve civil–military relations. It can be an independent formation in the national

defence ministry {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a g ...

or a public entity like a club-houses. In the early days of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

the institution was called the House of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. The head of the building is a senior officer, usually with the rank of a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

or above. The following are types of Officer Houses: *District House of Officers *Group House of Officers *Garrison House of Officers *Fleet House of Officers Events in the building include cultural activities in order to meet the spiritual needs, educate, enlighten, and organize cultural activities for military personnel and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces and their families.

Purposes

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

the activities of the House of Officers, aimed at the creation, preservation, dissemination and development of cultural values in various forms and types, is a cultural activity and has its own tasks: * Historical and cultural military education by means of presenting art, music and spirituality * Promoting the forms and methods of cultural and leisure work to the formation of military and civilian

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

in the Armed Forces for moral, psychological and military professional readiness to successfully accomplish the tasks of military service and fulfill the requirements of military discipline * Familiarizing family members of servicemen with national values and military values * Organizing cultural leisure of military personnel in the interests of maintaining their spiritual, emotional, moral and psychological state at the proper level. Similar tasks are present in the Officers Houses of the armed forces of post-Soviet republics. In the Soviet era, party conferences were held for members of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

Location and structure

As is tradition, an Officers House is located on one of the central streets of the garrison. The architecture of the building generally resembles a Palace of Culture or even a Cinema. Civilians, especially in remote garrisons, were usually the wives of officers or warrant officers serving in the garrison. The building has usually consists of the following rooms: a wardrobe, a lobby, a concert hall, a library, and a cafe, as well as a chapel and a mini-gallery of historical pictures. Choreographic and vocal ensembles, brass bands, and

theatre troupe Theatrical troupe (French: ''troupe''), sometimes referred to as an acting company, is a group of theatrical performers working together. They may work in repertory other types of theatres, and may take performances on tour. They are not the same ...

s are commonplace at the house. Pop artists are commonly invited to perform at these places. Houses of Officers were located in all internal and external garrisons of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

, including at Soviet bases in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

List of officer houses in Russia

* Central House of Officers of the Russian Army – the main cultural institution of the

Armed Forces of Russia The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

, located in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. * Central Officers' Club of the Aerospace Forces * House of Officers of the Western Military District * House of Officers of the

Southern Military District 200px, Headquarters of the district at 53 Pushkinskaya Street / 43 Budenovsky avenue, Rostov-on-Don The Southern Military District (Russian: Южный военный округ) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military ...

* House of Officers of the Central Military District * House of Officers of the

Eastern Military District The Eastern Military District (Russian: Восточный военный округ) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction within the Far Eastern Federal ...

* House of Officers of the Northern Fleet * House of Officers of the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

* House of Officers of the Pacific Fleet * House of Officers of the

Caspian Flotilla Kaspiyskaya flotiliya , image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla , dates = No ...

* House of Officers of the Kola Flotilla * House of officers of the

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

Garrison * House of officers of the Chita Garrison * House of officers of the Ufa Garrison * House of officers of the

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

Garrison * House of officers of the Ussurisk Garrison

Examples of notable officer houses

A number of buildings in which houses of officers were located are known precisely by such names, despite the fact that their use at the present time may be different. * Central House of Officers (Minsk) *

House of Officers (Almaty) The House of Officers ( kk, Офицерлер үйі) is a military/cultural building in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It serves troops and other personnel of the Almaty Military Garrison. Currently, the building houses the Museum of the Great Patriotic W ...

Kazakh Museum of Folk Musical Instruments The Ykhlas Museum of Folk Musical Instruments ( kk, Ықылас атындағы халық музыкалық аспаптар музейі, ''Yqylas atyndaghy halyq mýzykalyq aspaptar mýzeyi'') is a musical instrument museum located in Alma ...

(known as the House of Officers until 1980) *

Presidential Palace, Vilnius The Presidential Palace ( lt, Prezidentūra), located in Vilnius Old Town, is the official office of the President of Lithuania. The palace dates back to the 14th century and during its history it has undergone various reconstructions, supervis ...

(known as the House of Officers until 1997) *

Central House of Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Central House of Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Центральний будинок офіцерів Збройних сил України) is a cultural center located in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since its recent reorganization, Central O ...

* House of Officers (Ashgabat) * House of Officers (Dushanbe) * Central House of Officers named after

Hazi Aslanov Hazi Aslanov ( az, Həzi Əhəd oğlu Aslanov; russian: Ази Агад оглы Асланов; commonly described as Azi Aslanov and A. A. Aslanov,Aleksander A. Maslov, David M. Glantz, ''Fallen Soviet Generals: Soviet General Officers Killed i ...

(

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

) * Artsakh Defence Army House of Officers (

Stepanakert / az, Xankəndi, italic=no , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = File:StepanakertCollage.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = From top left: Holy Mother ...

) * Army Museum of Moldova (located in the building of the former House of Officers) * Central Army House of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyzstan * Club of the

Warsaw Garrison Command The Warsaw Garrison Command (WGC) ( pl, Dowództwo Garnizonu Warszawa, DGW) is a military board and area of the Polish Army based in Warsaw, Poland. Despite being part of the Polish Land Forces, it is an independent formation. The command, which ...

* Central Military Club (Sofia)

Other Soviet entertainment complexes (Dvorets)

* Palace of Culture (Palace of Arts and Creativity i.e. Palace of Arts "Ukraina") * Palace of Sports *

People's House People's Houses (russian: Народный дом) were originally leisure and cultural centres built with the intention of making art and cultural appreciation available to the working classes. The first establishment of this type appeared in T ...

, previous term that existed in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

* Palace of the Soviets (special case) * Pioneers Palace (House of Young Pioneers)

References