Berlin, Spreeufer, Gedenkkreuze für Maueropfer 03

White Crosses (in German: ''Weiße Kreuze'') is a memorial for those who died during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

at the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. It is located at the shore of the river

Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany 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' ...

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 ...

next to the

Reichstag building The Reichstag (, ; officially: – ; en, Parliament) is a historic government building in Berlin which houses the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament. It was constructed to house the Imperial Diet (german: Reichstag) of the ...

, which houses the German parliament. Established by the private group ''Berliner Bürger-Verein'' on the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Wall in 1971 it was first located east of the Reichstag on a fence directly in front of the wall. After the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990 it kept its location until construction of the new government buildings next to the Reichstag was started at the end of that century – Berlin was chosen to be the new capital of Germany.berlin.de:
“Weisse Kreuze” memorial / German Bundestag
' During construction the memorial was moved to a location south of the Reichstag next to the Tiergarten. On the 50th anniversary of the

Uprising of 1953 in East Germany The East German uprising of 1953 (german: Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni 1953 ) was an uprising that occurred in East Germany from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with a strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against w ...

a second set of crosses was erected on the riverbank, which is slightly north-west of the original location. The opening speech was given by then President of the Bundestag

Wolfgang Thierse Wolfgang Thierse (; born 22 October 1943) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the 11th President of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005. Early life and career Thierse was born in Breslau (Wrocław in present ...

.Web archive of the German Bundestag:
Ansprache von Bundestagspräsident Wolfgang Thierse zur Fertigstellung des westlichen Spreeplatzes und zur Wiederaufstellung der Mauerkreuze am 17. Juni
' Speech of the President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Thierse on June, 17th 2003

Victims' names

The names of 13 victims are inscribed on both sides of the 7 crosses. One cross is devoted to the unknown victims of the wall. The selection contains the first and last victim who were killed by gunfire. Most of the victims died between 1961 and 1965. ;landside *

Günter Litfin Günter Litfin (19 January 1937 – 24 August 1961) was a German tailor who became the second known person to die at the Berlin Wall. Litfin was the first victim to be killed by East German border troops, the first to succumb to gunshot wounds ...

, 24 August 1961 * Udo Düllick, 5 October 1961 * Hans Räwel, 1 January 1963 * Klaus Schröter, 4 November 1963 * Heinz Sokolowski, 25 November 1965 *

Marienetta Jirkowsky Marienetta "Micki" Jirkowsky (25 August 1962 – 22 November 1980) was a German woman who became the one-hundred and twenty-fifth known person to die at the Berlin Wall. Jirkowsky was shot and killed by East German border guards during an escap ...

, 22 November 1980 * "den unbekannten Opfern an der Mauer" (German: to the unknown victims of the wall) ;riverside * Werner Probst, 14 October 1961 * Ingo Krüger, 10 December 1961 *

Philipp Held Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (1864� ...

, 11 April 1962 * Axel Hannemann, 5 June 1962 * Lutz Haberlandt, 27 June 1962 * Wolf-Olaf Muszinski, March 1963 *

Chris Gueffroy Chris Gueffroy (21 June 1968 – 6 February 1989) was the last person to be shot and the second-last to die in an escape attempt while trying to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin across the Berlin Wall. Biography Chris Gueffroy was bo ...

, 5 February 1989

References

{{coord, 52.519635, N, 13.376831, E, source:dewiki_region:DE-BE_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Berlin Wall Monuments and memorials in Berlin