The idea

The history of the freedom and unity monument began in 1998 with a public newsletter which was addressed to four public officials: to Bundestag President Rita Süssmuth, Bundesrat President Gerhard Schröder, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Eberhard Diepgen, the Lord Mayor of Berlin. It was compiled by a number of prominent personalities: Jürgen Engert, founding director of the ARD broadcasting corporation‘s capital city studio, Lothar de Maizière, the first democratically elected and simultaneously last prime minister of the GDR, Florian Mausbach, president of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning and the civil rights activist Günter Nooke. In their letter programmatically entitled “German Unity Monument Initiative“, they remembered the Peaceful Revolution of 1989/90 and called for “the historic significance of those days” to be recognised. According to the authors, the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification were not only major national events but also a significant game changer for Europe and the nations of the world.

The grounds were appropriate: “The opening of the inner German border brought to an end a century with two world wars and two totalitarian dictatorships aiming for world domination. Reunification brought the end of half a century of separation for the country, its capital and its nation. At the same time, it was a European phenomenon: reunification would not have happened without the Prague Spring, without Poland’s Solidarność, without Glasnost and the opening of the Hungarian border, without the countless victims who prepared the way, and not without the Peaceful Revolution. It would also not have been possible without the western policy of détente”. The authors‘ conclusion was: “With the Peaceful Revolution, reunification in freedom and the recognition of the borders we became an equal partner in the international community.”

A controversial debate over many years led to the decision to erect a freedom and unity monument in the centre of the capital. An area on Berlin’s Museum Island known as Schlossfreiheit, which has repeatedly been the scene of historical events, was chosen as the location for the monument. It is located between the Crown Prince’s Palace (Kronprinzenpalais), in which the reunification treaty was signed on 31st August 1990, and the site of the demolished Palace of the Republic, in which the last East German parliament (Volkskammer) passed the accession resolution on 20th August 1990. On 4th November 1989, tens of thousands of people marched past Schlossfreiheit to the final rally on Alexanderplatz, where almost half a million people gathered for the rally: it was the biggest demonstration of that autumn and a milestone for the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR.

With its location directly in front of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin Palace, the monument also directs the view from the historic centre of Berlin into the future: it is intended to act as an impulse “to continue the democratic awakening of those days” and as a “symbolic centre and meeting place for pugnacious democracy” – that democracy which citizens won with the greatest of efforts

© Dr. Andreas H. Apelt (Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V.)

Short biographies of the initiators

Jürgen Engert

Born in Dresden in 1936. Degrees in History, German and Philosophy from Munich and Berlin, simultaneous journalistic activities. 1974 editor-in-chief of the “Der Abend“ newspaper, 1984 presenter of the ARD’s Kontraste political magazine. 1987 editor-in-chief of the Freies Berlin (SFB) broadcaster. Founding director of the ARD capital city studio. Awarded the Theodor-Wolff Prize in 1976. Deputy chair of the Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V. Jürgen Engert died in Berlin in 2021.

Dr. h.c. Lothar de Maizière

Born in Nordhausen in 1940. Degree in the viola at the Hanns Eisler Berlin musical academy, subsequently a musician. Law degree by correspondence course at the Humboldt University in Berlin, subsequently a lawyer. March to October 1990 member of the East German parliament, elected as prime minister of the GDR in April 1990. 1990/91 deputy chair of the German Christian Democratic Party. 1990/91 member of the German Bundestag. October to December 1990 Federal Minister for Special Tasks. Founding member and from 2009 to 2022 chair of the Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V.

Florian Mausbach

Born in Koblenz in 1944. Degree in Architecture from Brunswick and Berlin. 1995 to 1998 President of the Federal Building Authority, 1998 to 2009 President of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, as such specifically responsible for federal buildings in Bonn, Berlin and abroad. The main focus of his activities lies in the building up of Berlin as the federal capital. Member of the Board of Trustees of the Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V.

Günter Nooke

Born in Forst (Lausitz) in 1959). Degree in Physics from Leipzig. 1989 co-founder of the democratic awakening. 1990 member of the parliament of the DDR. 1990 to 1994 member of Brandenburg State Parliament. 1998 to 2005 member of the German Bundestag. 2006 authorised representative of the German government for human rights policy and humanitarian aid, 2010-2021 the Federal Chancellor’s Africa representative in the Federal Ministry for Economic Collaboration and development. Deputy speaker for the board of trustees for the Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V.