Revolutionsdenkmal

The Revolutionsdenkmal is a former memorial for the communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht which have been killed in 1919. It was located on the Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, a cemetery at Berlin, Germany. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the wall-like memorial in expressionist style using red bricks. The memorial was opened in 1926 but some parts had to be added later and some planned items were never added.

The communists couldn’t find somebody that day to produce a giant star made of steel. Therefore they had to order five rhombi and create the star out of them. Originally it was also planned to add the words ‘Ich war, ich bin, ich werde sein‘ (‘I was, I am, I will be‘) – words from the last article published by Rosa Luxemburg meaning the revolution. The memorial became a location for annual gatherings and remembrance – until in 1933 the Nazis started to destroy it. The star was taken as a trophy, in 1935 there wasn’t anything left at this place.

After World War II the annual gatherings were continued in front of an improvised reproduction of a memorial. Recreating it failed until today. Now flowers are laid down at the Gedenkstätte der Sozialisten within the same cemetery every January on the second Sunday. In 1982 a memorial for the former memorial was placed at its former location. If you want to get there enter the Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde at its main entrance (near the Gedenkstätte der Sozialisten) and on the left you will find a quite long main road that you’ll have to follow until its end.

Revolutionsdenkmal
Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde
Berlin
Germany