Monument to Freedom and Unity
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The Monument to Freedom and Unity (Template:Lang-de) is a planned national German monument in Berlin commemorating the country's peaceful reunification in 1990 and earlier 18th, 19th and 20th century unification movements.
It was agreed on 9 November 2007 by a decree of the Bundestag.[1] The decree proposed the site of the former National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument on the Schlossfreiheit for the new structure, next to the Berlin Palace containing the Humboldt Forum which was rebuilt between 2013 and 2020. The monument will feature the slogans "Wir sind das Volk, Wir sind ein Volk" (in English: ‘We are the people, We are one people’),.[2] This is a reference to the chants “Wir sind das Volk” adopted during the Monday demonstrations in 1989 and “Wir sind ein Volk” adopted by advocates of German reunification in 1990.
In early June 2017, the Bundestag decided to start construction of the memorial in front of the City Palace according to the design of Milla & Partner. It was to be inaugurated on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 2019.[3] However, construction began on 19 May 2020.[4] The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (de) expects completion of constructions in 2023.[5]
Beginnings and Bundestag Resolution
A small group of politicans, city planners, and journalists first proposed the idea for the future monument. On the 13 May 1998, after the conclusion of the competition for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Florian Mausbach, Günter Nooke, Jürgern Engert and Lothar de Maizière began the "German Unity Memorial" (Denkmal Deutsche Einheit) initiative by writing a letter to the President of the Bundestag Rita Süssmuth, the Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the President of the German Bundesrat Gerhard Schröder and the Mayor of Berlin Eberhard Diepgen. A citizens' memorial, located in the centre of Berlin, would recognise the courage of individuals in opposing the state machinery by "expressing the liberating joy caused by the fall of the Berlin Wall - a memorial to historical happiness and tears of joy." At the same time, they began a signature campaign, which was able to secure the signatures of prominent figures and industry association representatives. They suggested the base of the National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument as an appropriate site, since it is between the Kronprinzenpalais - where the German reunification treaty was signed - and the seat of the Volkskammer in the Palace of the Republic, Berlin - where the DDR's accession to the Federal Republic Germany was declared - and was additionally the location of the Alexanderplatz demonstration on the 4 November 1989, the largest demonstration of the Peaceful Revolution.
In April 2000, a cross-party group of East German parliamentarians made an application to the Bundestag, which was rejected by the Committe on Cultural and Media Affairs. In 2005, the Deutsche Gesellschaft took up the project, and, on the 9 November 2006, began to generate publicity for the project, by, amongst other things, holding hearings and contacting decision makers. In 2007, the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship held an initial student competition to design the memorial. On the 9 November 2007, the Bundestag resolved to allow construction of the memorial.[6] The federal government was called upon to collaborate with the Deutsche Gesellschaft on the design of the memorial. On the 18 March 2008, the initial proposers of the project and the Deutsche Gesellschaft were awarded the Deutscher Nationalpreis (German National Prize) for their work. After months of deliberations about the site of the monument (Pariser Platz, Leipziger Platz, Platz der Republik (Berlin), Platz des 18. März, Lustgarten, Berlin Palace), the original suggestion (the pedestal of the former National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument) was chosen, precisely because of its historical character as an authoritarian symbol; in June 2008, the project became part of the federal Gedenkstättenkonzeption (National Memorial Design). [7][8][9]
References
- ^ Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 16/6974
- ^ Abby d'Arcy Hughes (19 April 2011). "Berlin selects giant rocking dish as monument to unification". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- ^ Christiane Peitz (2 June 2016). "Bundestag segnet die Wippe ab". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ "Bau des Berliner Einheitsdenkmals beginnt". zeit.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-05-18.
- ^ "Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal: Neubau auf der Berliner Schlossfreiheit". Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (BBR) (in German).
- ^ Deutscher Bundestag, 16. Wahlperiode: Beschlussempfehlung und Bericht des Ausschusses für Kultur und Medien. 7. November 2007, BT-Drs. 16/6974. [1]
- ^ "Die Idee". www.freiheits-und-einheitsdenkmal.de. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Die Debatte". www.freiheits-und-einheitsdenkmal.de. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ Apelt, Andreas (11-07-2011). "Das Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal – zur Geschichte einer Idee" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
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