New Guardhouse

  • Neue Wache

    The Neue Wache (New Guardhouse) on the street Unter den Linden in Berlin.

  • Neue Wache Berlin

    Politicians take part in the wreath-laying ceremony on Remembrance Day at the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny in the Neue Wache (archive).

The New Guardhouse, located at Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district, is the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship.

Right next to the Zeughaus, which now houses the German Historical Museum, is the rather small Neue Wache (New Guardhouse). It was built between 1816 and 1818 according to designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and has been the Federal Republic of Germany's central memorial to the victims of war and tyranny since 1993.

New Guardhouse as a memorial

The Neue Wache served as the "Haupt- und Königswache" until 1918 and, despite its active use, was seen as a memorial to the Wars of Liberation. In 1931, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg decided that the building should be turned into a memorial to the fallen of the First World War. The architect Heinrich Tessenow undertook the redesign, placing a black granite block with a silver and gold oak leaf wreath inside.

Käthe Kollwitz sculpture commemorates victims of war and tyranny

After the New Guardhouse was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War, the GDR leadership had the building reconstructed and transformed into a memorial to the victims of fascism and militarism in 1960. Inside, an "eternal flame" burned over the urns of an unknown concentration camp prisoner and an unknown soldier. Since 1993, the sculpture "Mother with her dead son" by Käthe Kollwitz has been located inside and commemorates the victims of war and tyranny.

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 Address
Unter den Linden 4
10117 Berlin
Accessibility
Stepless access
Admission Fee
Free

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Last edited: 13 January 2025