Memorial to the lesbians and gays persecuted under National Socialism

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The monument 2018

The memorial for the lesbians and gays persecuted under National Socialism is a memorial in Munich's old town , which was inaugurated on June 27, 2017.

description

The memorial is located in the Hackenviertel on the corner of Oberanger and Dultstraße, on the edge of Munich's pedestrian zone, about halfway between Marienplatz and Sendlinger Tor . Sankt-Jakobs-Platz with the Munich Jewish Center is in the immediate vicinity .

On an area of ​​90 square meters, the flooring around the street corner was replaced by concrete slabs in different colors that can be walked on. According to the artist, Ulla von Brandenburg , this design, based on the rainbow flag as a symbol of the lesbian and gay movement , should stand as a symbol “that everyone has their place in society”. Two pink and black triangles are embedded in the base plates. These are reminiscent of the cloth badges of the prisoners in the concentration camps , " pink triangles" for gays, black triangles for " gypsies " and "antisocials". Lesbian sexuality was viewed as "anti-social" under National Socialism, and in individual cases persecution and admission to concentration camps occurred.

Plaque

The artist's ideas are explained on an on-site information board and the history of the Schwarzfischer Gasthaus , one of the first Munich gay bars in the 1920s, is presented about the location of the monument . The text closes with the words: “A place of remembrance for commemorating the persecution and murder of gays and lesbians under National Socialism. The monument turns against intolerance and exclusion and stands for an open urban society. "

Historical background

Homosexual acts between men were liberalized in Bavaria in the 19th century. After the founding of the German Empire which took effect on January 1, 1872 Penal Code in force, due to which the penal provision of § 175 gays in Bavaria threatened again by imprisonment or a fine. Regardless of the threat of punishment, a liberal scene shaped by artists and bohemians developed in Munich towards the end of the 19th century , in which male and female homosexuals enjoyed great freedom. In the aftermath of the Harden-Eulenburg affair , there was then a significant increase in criminal proceedings under Section 175, also in Munich. With the defeat in the First World War and the collapse of the Munich Soviet Republic in 1919, Bavaria developed under conservative governments into the regulatory cell of the Reich. Munich became a dangerous place for homosexuals.

The Munich memorial to the lesbians and gays persecuted under National Socialism is located on the site of the former gay bar Schwarzfischer . There, on the evening of October 20, 1934 , the massive and targeted police persecution of homosexual men by the National Socialists began in a major raid .

In 1935 the National Socialists tightened paragraph 175 significantly, it existed in this form until 1969. It was not completely repealed until 1994. From 1933 to 1945 around 50,000 men were tried for homosexuality in the German Reich. About 5000–6000 were sent to concentration camps - where they had to wear a pink triangle. Some were neutered and thousands perished. In contrast, there is no evidence of persecution of female homosexuality.

It was not until 2002 that the homosexual victims of National Socialism were rehabilitated. In 2008, a memorial to homosexuals persecuted under National Socialism was erected in Berlin .

Planning the monument

The discussion about the Munich memorial for the lesbians and gays persecuted by the National Socialists, desired by the Munich Pink List and other groups, went back to the beginning of the 21st century. Initial efforts at the political level did not meet with approval. The reason for the rejection was that one did not want to commemorate each group of victims individually. In 2008, Thomas Niederbühl , the representative of the Munich Pink List, and the Greens in the Munich City Council applied for a memorial in Munich to commemorate the gay and lesbian victims of National Socialism. They suggested the Oberanger as the location. In 2011 the Munich city council decided to set up such a monument. In 2014 the artist Ulla von Brandenburg was commissioned with the execution as the winner of a competition announced by the city's cultural department . The construction of a new commercial building at the site of the monument led to another delay of several years in the execution. The memorial was finally opened to the public on June 27, 2017.

The attitude of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde München und Oberbayern and the Munich City Council towards the stumbling blocks of the Cologne artist Gunter Demnig - to this day, no stumbling blocks are tolerated on public land in Munich - played no role in the planning of the accessible monument for the persecuted lesbians and gays. The Munich city councilor Christian Vorländer (SPD) emphasized in 2014 that the decision to design the monument as a floor mosaic was “no prejudice to the stumbling block debate”.

See also

Web links

Commons : Memorial to the lesbians and gays persecuted during the Nazi era (Munich)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Memorial to the Lesbians and Gays Persecuted during the Nazi Era , muenchen.de, June 27, 2017
  2. ↑ a b Landeshauptstadt München, Kulturreferat (Ed.): ThemesGeschichtsPfad , pp. 146–147.
  3. ↑ Colorful plaster against a brown past: Memorial for homosexual victims of the Nazi era. tz , June 27, 2017
  4. ↑ State Capital Munich, Kulturreferat (Ed.): Topic History Path , pp. 83, 89.
  5. ↑ a b Wolfgang Görl: Monument unveiled: Reading the signs. Süddeutsche Zeitung, June 27, 2017.
  6. ↑ State Capital Munich, Kulturreferat (Ed.): Topic History Path , p. 39.
  7. ↑ a b Landeshauptstadt München, Kulturreferat (Ed.): Topic History Path , pp. 149–151.
  8. ↑ Alexander Zinn: "Removed from the people's body"? Pp. 265-279.
  9. ↑ Alexander Zinn: "Removed from the people's body"? Pp. 532-545.
  10. ↑ Michael Grüttner : The Third Reich. 1933–1939 (= Gebhardt: Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte . Volume 19). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2014, p. 420 f.
  11. ↑ Alexander Zinn: Was there persecution of lesbians by the Nazi regime? Retrieved August 26, 2018
  12. ↑ Joachim Müller: Comparability of the life situation of lesbian women with the life situation of gay men under National Socialism (and after 1945). Berlin 2007
  13. ↑ Joachim Müller: There was no nationwide organized persecution of lesbians. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  14. ↑ a b Dominik Hutter: Memorial for persecuted homosexuals: On the Nazis' Pink List. Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 21, 2014.

Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 7 ″  N , 11 ° 34 ′ 19.6 ″  E