Memorial to the memory of the book burning

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Monument in the middle of the Bebelplatz

The memorial to the memory of the book burning is a memorial on the Bebelplatz in the center of Berlin next to the street Unter den Linden . The memorial is an authentic reminder of May 10, 1933, when, among others, students of the National Socialist Student Union and many professors of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (today Humboldt-Universität ) under the musical accompaniment of SA and SS bands over 20,000 books by many primarily Jewish , communist, liberal and socially critical authors in front of a large audience from the University's Old Library on the square and burned them in the middle of what was then Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Platz (1911–1947), now Bebelplatz.

The memorial is a 5 × 5 × 5 meter underground space that is let into the Bebelplatz. It is located at the level of the filled west ramp of the Lindentunnel , which was demolished over a length of 25 meters for the construction. There are empty shelves for 20,000 volumes on the walls of the completely whitewashed room. The empty space is not accessible. A glass plate in the paving of the square gives visitors a glimpse.

The design comes from the Israeli artist Micha Ullman , the monument was inaugurated on March 20, 1995. In addition to the glass plate, two identically labeled bronze plates embedded in the floor inform passers-by about the monument. They carry the following texts, which begin with a quote from Heinrich Heine's tragedy Almansor :

"That was just a prelude,
where you burn books,
in the end you burn people too."
Heinrich Heine 1820

In the middle of this square, on May 10, 1933, National Socialist students burned the works of hundreds of freelance writers, publicists, philosophers and scientists.

"Library" memorial "The book burning of May 10, 1933"

Built by Micha Ullman in 1994/95

Wall AG took over the costs for the care and maintenance of the memorial until the end of 2018 . B. the pane made of special glass can be replaced every 3 months. After the expiry of the contract and reports in the media about the condition of the scratched window, the district office in Mitte commissioned and paid for the replacement in February 2019. [obsolete]

photos

  • Memorial to the memory of the book burning (in the background St. Hedwig's Cathedral )

  • Look into the monument

  • Look into the monument; brightly lit at night

  • One of the memorial plaques

literature

  • Hans Dickel and Uwe Fleckner: Art in the City: Sculptures in Berlin . 1st edition. Nicolai, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-87584-399-1 , p. 61-63 .

Web links

Commons : Memorial to the memory of the book burning  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler: Lindentunnel - a new chapter . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 2, 2005, pp. 19-20 .
  2. ↑ Berlin Mitte: CDU district association Berlin Mitte - memorial for the book burning at Bebelplatz - Wall AG extends care for another two years .
  3. ^ Abendblatt-berlin.de ( Memento from February 25, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
  4. ↑ A new disc for the memorial on Bebelplatz .
  5. ↑ The memorial to the book burning on the Bebelplatz is degenerating. Retrieved August 1, 2019 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '59 "  N , 13 ° 23' 34"  E