The competitions

First competition

The design of the freedom and unity monument was to be determined by an artistic competition. The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning was to implement this competition. The guideline for the artists was: “The freedom and unity monument should simultaneously recall and honour the freedom movement and the striving for unity of past centuries. It should be erected as a national symbol in the centre of the German capital. Its significance and effect should evolve from the shape and design. Reference should be made to other cities, especially Leipzig, which played an outstanding role in the Peaceful Revolution.”

The area surrounding the future monument was still in a state of urban development in 2009. 533 participants still submitted their ideas for the design of the empty monument base for the first competition. The designs showed different artistic interpretations and attracted a great deal of attention in the German media and from the German public. However, no single design completely convinced the judges with regard to the artistic and conceptual requirements for depicting the history of German freedom and unity, so the competition ended in April 2009 without a winning design.

Second competiton

A renewed call for entries for the design of the freedom and unity monument was put out in February 2010. Based on the experience gained with the first competition, precise expectations were formulated this time: “a permanent and immobile monument as regards materiality and nature which is enduring in its intention and shape.” It should become a “citizens‘ monument” for the courageous demonstrations in Autumn 1989 and the recovery of German unity which should be understandable without extensive explanations and be accessible to the general public. Suggestions as to how the existing vestiges of history should be handled were also expected. A reconstruction of the former national monument with colonnades seemed problematic to the organisers.

386 applicants initially took part in the open application procedure, of whom 33 were then selected for the competition. Ultimately, 28 artists and architects submitted their designs for the jury’s perusal. Bernd Neumann, the then minister of state and the federal government’s commissioner for culture and the media, presented the three winners on German Unity Day, the 3rd of October 2010: Professor Stephan Balkenhol for the design of a man kneeling, Professor Andreas Meck for the design of a roof of letters and words which form slogans from the revolution, and the Milla & Partner agency together with Sasha Waltz for their design of a giant scale.

The winning entry

Im April 2011 wurde der von Milla & Partner zusammen mit Sasha Waltz eingereichte Beitrag schließlich zum Sieger des Wettbewerbs erkoren. Die Denkmalgestaltung mit dem Titel „Bürger in Bewegung“ ließ sich von drei Grundgedanken leiten:

„Die mutigen Bürger der friedlichen Revolution von 1989 sind die Basis unserer heutigen Freiheit und Einheit. Das Denkmal will auch ein Vermächtnis und eine Aufforderung für nachfolgende Generationen sein und öffnet sich nach oben, zur Zukunft hin.
Das Denkmal lädt nicht zur Betrachtung von außen ein, sondern will betreten werden, der Bürger von heute steht dann im Mittelpunkt, wird selber Teil des Denkmals.
Wenn sich die Menschen in einer größeren Gruppe verständigen, können Sie das Denkmal bewegen. Freiheit und Einheit sind keine dauerhaften Zustände, sondern müssen stets neu gestärkt und definiert werden, sie erfordern ständiges Engagement."