Ben Wagin next to the former Berlin Wall

The Parliament of Trees (also known as ''The Parliament of Trees against war and violence'') is a memorial for the death victims of the Berlin Wall, which was installed on 9 November 1990 by performance artist

Ben Wagin Ben Wagin (25 March 1930 – 28 July 2021) was a German artist, sculptor, draughtsman, designer, performance artist, author and composer. He ran the Galerie S gallery, and founded the artists' group ''die Baumpaten'' (Godfathers of trees) which ...

Installation

Wagin established the memorial on a site of the former death strip on the eastern shore of the

Spree Spree may refer to: Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers''), an episode of the television show ''Number ...

opposite to the

German Parliament The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...

Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...

. There he arranged memorial stones, pictures, posters and pieces of the facilities that were used to defend the border. Different artists worked on these exhibition pieces. Also trees and flowers were planted.Annette Kaminsky, BpB: ''Orte des Erinnerns: Gedenkzeichen, Gedenkstätten und Museen zur Diktatur in SBZ und DDR'', S. 105 The background of the installation was formed by L-shaped pieces of the wall of the last generation of the wall on which the dates of the construction and the fall of the Berlin Wall were painted together with the number of the death victims from the respective years. Additionally other motives are on the backside of the walls. berlin.de: '' Gedenkort Parlament der Bäume / Mauer-Mahnmal im Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus '' On 3 October 1997 Wagin lit 999 torches, which recreated the course of the Berlin Wall. Back side of The Parliament of Trees

Modification

Because the German government moved from Bonn to Berlin many federal buildings were newly constructed next to the German Parliament in the belt of the federation (

Band des Bundes Berlin's Federal Ribbon () is an architectural ensemble that runs across the government district north of the Reichstag building across the on the edge of the Spreebogenpark. The concept was designed by the architects Axel Schultes and Charlo ...

). Part of this is the newly built Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, which to some extent developed on the ground of The Parliament of Trees. The latter was therefore made smaller and trees were rearranged. In the building of the German Parliament a public installation made of pieces of the wall of The Parliament of Trees was established. The Parliament of Trees can be accessed through Schiffbauerdamm promenade.

References

External links

Parlament der Bäume auf der Seite des Künstlers
{{Public art in Berlin Monuments and memorials in Berlin Berlin Wall