Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism

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  Visitors stand at the memorial to the Sinti and Roma murdered during the National Socialist era.

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  Flowers lie on the memorial stone at the memorial to the persecution and murder of Sinti and Roma by the National Socialists.

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  Visitors go to the memorial site for the Sinti and Roma murdered under National Socialism in Tiergarten.

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  Tourists visit the memorial to the murdered Sinti and Roma.

The memorial in the green Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate commemorates the Sinti and Roma murdered under National Socialism. A fresh flower is placed on the stone in the fountain every day.

The Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism is located in a foothill of Berlin's Tiergarten park between the Reichstag building and the Brandenburg Gate. It is intended to commemorate the up to 500,000 people who were persecuted and murdered as "Gypsies" in Germany and other European countries between 1933 and 1945 under the rule of National Socialism. Most of them referred to themselves as Sinti, Roma, Lalleri, Lowara or Manusch, for example, depending on which group they belonged to. Yenish and other travellers were also affected. The largest groups in Europe were the Sinti and Roma.

Symbolic architecture

The memorial was officially opened in October 2012 after around 20 years of planning. It was designed by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan. He created a circular water basin with a diameter of twelve meters and a black background. In the middle of the basin, the artist placed a triangular stone stele, which, when viewed from above, is reminiscent of the angle on the clothing of the concentration camp prisoners. A fresh flower lies on the stele. Whenever it withers, the stone sinks into a space under the basin, where a new flower is placed on the stone, only to rise up again and emerge from the basin.

Sinti and Roma memorial informs about mass murder

On the edge of the fountain, the poem "Auschwitz" by Santino Spinelli can be read in English, German and Romanes: "Sunken face/ extinguished eyes/ cold lips/ silence/ a torn heart/ without breath/ without words/ no tears". On the ground around the water basin are flat stones bearing the names of places where Nazi crimes were committed. Near the memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism, glass plaques provide information about the exclusion and mass murder of this minority.

Information

• Address:
  Simsonweg
  10117 Berlin
  City map
• Opening Hours: Accessible at any time