Located in Berlin's Spreebogen district, a vacant lawn near the Chancellery and parliament has been designated since fall 2024 for the Memorial for the Remembrance of the Victims of Communist Dictatorship in Germany. The memorial will honor victims of the communist regime and commemorate those persecuted, imprisoned, and killed while attempting to flee the GDR. The Soviet Occupation Zone became the German Democratic Republic on October 7, 1949, and the regime systematically suppressed dissent until its 1989 collapse and 1990 reunification. During the GDR era, more than 600 people died attempting to cross the inner-German border or the Berlin Wall. Anticipated 2026 federal funding would enable a design competition; victims' associations call the memorial long overdue.
Until 1989, a border divided East and West Germany. In East Germany, the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ), which had existed since 1945, became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on October 7, 1949. This is the site where a memorial to the victims of communism is to be erected in central BerlinImage: Christoph Strack/DW The GDR was an authoritarian regime that systematically persecuted dissidents and suppressed freedom of movement and expression until its collapse in the fall of 1989 and German reunification the following year.
During the GDR era, more than 600 people lost their lives while attempting to flee to the West across the inner-German border or over the Berlin Wall. Victims' associations say memorial is 'long overdue' There are now plans to commemorate this history. In September, when the German parliament debates the 2026 federal budget, the State Minister for Culture's budget is expected to receive the necessary funding for the memorial. This will open the way for the launch of a design competition.
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