Book Burning Monument – Berlin, Germany – Daily Photo
by Chris Christensen Add commentscategories: europe travel
In the ground at Bebelplatz, which is a central square in Berlin by the opera house, is a curious site. There is a window that looks down on a room with empty bookshelves with enough space for 20,000 books. This is a monument to remember a book burning ceremony held on this spot on May 10, 1933 by the S.A. (“brownshirts”) and Nazi youth groups. The book burning was the idea of the Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels. In all 20,000 books were burned including the works of Jews, Communists, and pacifists. Books were burned by authors such as Thomas Mann, Erich Maria Remarque, Heinrich Heine, Karl Marx.
Dave -nibbleanibble
Says:January 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Simple, yet the message is huge.
chris2x
Says:January 3rd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
That was my impression, I thought it was a very cool monument
Thomas
Says:January 4th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I have seen some pretty moving sites and monuments around the world – but this monument has to be the most powerful I have ever seen. Great pic of it too!
Miranda
Says:September 11th, 2010 at 6:17 am
Great photo, but I think you’re missing one of the most important parts. Next to this was a plaque with a quote by Heinrich Heine, a German Jew which said (loosely translated here) “where books are burned, they will, in the end, burn people, too.” And that’s exactly what happened in Nazi Germany.