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75 years after WWII: Memorials in Berlin

Following years of violence and destruction, the Second World War ended 75 years ago. Many memorials in Berlin mark the historic events or commemorate the victims.

  • Black and white photo of two Soviet soldiers hoisting a flag on the Reichstag in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa)

    Reichstag parliament building

    On April 30, 1945, two Soviet soldiers hoisted the red flag on the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin. Even though it is now known that the scene for this photo was actually staged two days later, it remains one of the most famous images of the 20th century, symbolizing the victory over Hitler, the destruction of the Nazi party and the end of the Second World War.

  • Capitulation Hall in the German-Russian Museum in Berlin Karlshorst (picture-alliance/ZB)

    The German-Russian Museum

    In this officers' mess in Berlin Karlshorst, the German Wehrmacht army signed the unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945. The German-Russian Museum exhibits the document, which was drawn up in English, Russian and German. The permanent exhibition provides information about the the war of annihilation led by the Nazis against the Soviet Union from 1941, which claimed around 25 million lives.

  • Tank in front of the Allied Museum in Berlin (picture-alliance/akg-images/D. E. Hoppe)

    The Allied Museum

    The western allies, namely Americans, English and French, did not get to Berlin until July 1945 when they took over the western sectors of the city. The center of the US forces was the Zehlendorf district. The former Outpost Theater cinema building is now part of the Allied Museum, which covers the period of postwar Berlin, including the 1948 airlift, up to the withdrawal of the Americans in 1994.

  • The Soviet War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow (picture-alliance/360-Berlin/J. Knappe)

    The Soviet War Memorial

    A Soviet soldier holding a rescued child on his arm and a lowered sword over a shattered swastika — this huge monument towers above the Soviel Memorial in Treptow. The military cemetery is the final resting place for 7,000 Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in the fight for Berlin in the spring of 1945.

  • Graves and headstones in the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Berlin (picture-alliance/Arco Images/Schoening Berlin)

    Commonwealth War Cemetery in Berlin

    Some 3,600 Air Force soldiers, mainly killed in air combat over Berlin, are buried in the British cemetery on Heerstrasse. The honorary cemetery was built between 1955 and 1957 for the fallen soldiers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth States, especially Canada. It is still under special protection by the British Crown.

  • Statue in the inner yard of the Memorial to the German Resistance in Berlin (picture-alliance/Bildagentur-online/Schoening)

    Memorial to the German Resistance

    The war almost ended a year earlier: On June 20, 1944, a group of German officers led by Claus Schenk Count von Stauffenberg tried to overthrow Hitler. But the assassination attempt failed and the officers involved were executed. The German Resistance Memorial Center remembers those who died while resisting the Nazi regime.

  • People looking at displays at the Topography of Terror memorial in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken)

    Topography of Terror

    With about one million visitors annually, the documentation center Topography of Terror on Niederkirchnerstrasse is one of the most visited memorial sites in Berlin. From 1933 to 1945, this was the site of the headquarters of the Secret State Police Office and the SS — in other words, where the Nazi regime's system of terror was planned and managed.

  • People walking among the pillars of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa/J. Büttner)

    Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

    A wave-shaped field of 2,711 pillars commemorates the approximately 6.3 million European Jews who were murdered during the Nazi era. Directly underneath the Holocaust Memorial, changing exhibitions document the discrimination, persecution and systematic extermination of the Jewish people in the Nazi concentration camps.

  • View of the spire of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa/R. Günther)

    Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

    The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidplatz was severely damaged in bombing raids in 1943. When it was to be completely demolished and rebuilt in the postwar years, Berliners protested. As a result, the 71-meter-high (233-foot-high) tower ruins were preserved as a highly visible memorial against war and destruction, for peace and reconciliation.


  • Black and white photo of two Soviet soldiers hoisting a flag on the Reichstag in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa)

    Reichstag parliament building

    On April 30, 1945, two Soviet soldiers hoisted the red flag on the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin. Even though it is now known that the scene for this photo was actually staged two days later, it remains one of the most famous images of the 20th century, symbolizing the victory over Hitler, the destruction of the Nazi party and the end of the Second World War.

  • Capitulation Hall in the German-Russian Museum in Berlin Karlshorst (picture-alliance/ZB)

    The German-Russian Museum

    In this officers' mess in Berlin Karlshorst, the German Wehrmacht army signed the unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945. The German-Russian Museum exhibits the document, which was drawn up in English, Russian and German. The permanent exhibition provides information about the the war of annihilation led by the Nazis against the Soviet Union from 1941, which claimed around 25 million lives.

  • Tank in front of the Allied Museum in Berlin (picture-alliance/akg-images/D. E. Hoppe)

    The Allied Museum

    The western allies, namely Americans, English and French, did not get to Berlin until July 1945 when they took over the western sectors of the city. The center of the US forces was the Zehlendorf district. The former Outpost Theater cinema building is now part of the Allied Museum, which covers the period of postwar Berlin, including the 1948 airlift, up to the withdrawal of the Americans in 1994.

  • The Soviet War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow (picture-alliance/360-Berlin/J. Knappe)

    The Soviet War Memorial

    A Soviet soldier holding a rescued child on his arm and a lowered sword over a shattered swastika — this huge monument towers above the Soviel Memorial in Treptow. The military cemetery is the final resting place for 7,000 Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in the fight for Berlin in the spring of 1945.

  • Graves and headstones in the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Berlin (picture-alliance/Arco Images/Schoening Berlin)

    Commonwealth War Cemetery in Berlin

    Some 3,600 Air Force soldiers, mainly killed in air combat over Berlin, are buried in the British cemetery on Heerstrasse. The honorary cemetery was built between 1955 and 1957 for the fallen soldiers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth States, especially Canada. It is still under special protection by the British Crown.

  • Statue in the inner yard of the Memorial to the German Resistance in Berlin (picture-alliance/Bildagentur-online/Schoening)

    Memorial to the German Resistance

    The war almost ended a year earlier: On June 20, 1944, a group of German officers led by Claus Schenk Count von Stauffenberg tried to overthrow Hitler. But the assassination attempt failed and the officers involved were executed. The German Resistance Memorial Center remembers those who died while resisting the Nazi regime.

  • People looking at displays at the Topography of Terror memorial in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken)

    Topography of Terror

    With about one million visitors annually, the documentation center Topography of Terror on Niederkirchnerstrasse is one of the most visited memorial sites in Berlin. From 1933 to 1945, this was the site of the headquarters of the Secret State Police Office and the SS — in other words, where the Nazi regime's system of terror was planned and managed.

  • People walking among the pillars of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa/J. Büttner)

    Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

    A wave-shaped field of 2,711 pillars commemorates the approximately 6.3 million European Jews who were murdered during the Nazi era. Directly underneath the Holocaust Memorial, changing exhibitions document the discrimination, persecution and systematic extermination of the Jewish people in the Nazi concentration camps.

  • View of the spire of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa/R. Günther)

    Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

    The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidplatz was severely damaged in bombing raids in 1943. When it was to be completely demolished and rebuilt in the postwar years, Berliners protested. As a result, the 71-meter-high (233-foot-high) tower ruins were preserved as a highly visible memorial against war and destruction, for peace and reconciliation.


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