Das_Nationale_Freiheits_und_Einheitsdenkmal

The Monument to Freedom and Unity (''german: Denkmal für Freiheit und Einheit'') is a planned national German monument in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

commemorating the country's peaceful

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governmen ...

in 1990 and earlier 18th, 19th and 20th century unification movements. It was agreed on 9 November 2007 by a decree of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

. The decree proposed the site of the former

National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument The National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument (''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal'') was a memorial structure in Berlin dedicated to Wilhelm I, first Emperor of Imperial Germany. It stood in front of the Berlin Palace from 1897 to 1950, when both structures ...

on the ''Schlossfreiheit'' for the new structure, next to the

Berlin Palace The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of ...

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’),. 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. However, construction began on 19 May 2020. The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning ( de) expects completion of constructions in 2023.

References

Monuments and memorials in Berlin German reunification {{Germany-sculpture-stub