Gedenkort Weiße Kreuze

Behind the East entrance of the Reichstag, seven white wooden crosses hang in the Spree's riverbank railing, erected in 1971 by the Berliner Bürger-Verein. They name thirteen victims of the Berlin Wall, from Günter Litfin to Chris Gueffroy. The water at that time belonged to East Berlin; whoever jumped here was immediately in GDR sovereign waters.

Memorial White Crosses: seven crosses on the Spree bank

Behind the East entrance of the Reichstag building, on the banks of the Spree near Friedrich-Ebert-Platz, hang seven white wooden crosses in the riverbank railing. They commemorate people who lost their lives at the Berlin Wall. The crosses are inscribed on both sides, so some of the names can only be read from the water. In total, the names of thirteen victims are listed there, and another cross is dedicated to the unknown victims of the Wall.

The location was chosen carefully. From 1961 to 1990, the front border wall met the Spree bank here, and the water itself already belonged to East Berlin. Anyone who jumped into the river at this point was immediately in GDR sovereign waters. Several escapees therefore died in the water, within sight of the parliament, which today stands less than a hundred meters away.

From the Berliner Bürger-Verein to its return to the Spree

The memorial was erected in 1971 on the tenth anniversary of the Wall’s construction by the private Berliner Bürger-Verein, which also maintained it for years. Originally, the crosses were scattered at the locations of the respective escape attempts. Because the maintenance overwhelmed the association, they were gathered together on the Spree bank. For the construction work in the government district, the memorial had to be temporarily removed and returned to the bank on June 17, 2003.

The names on the crosses span the entire period of the division. On the land side are, among others, Günter Litfin, Ingo Krüger, Hans Räwel, Klaus Schröter, Heinz Sokolowski, and Marinetta Jirkowsky; on the river side, Chris Gueffroy, who was the last person shot at the Berlin Wall on February 5, 1989, nine months before the border opening. Litfin died on August 24, 1961, as the first victim by shots at the border, eleven days after the Wall’s construction. The crosses thus stand as representatives for the at least 140 people who lost their lives at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989. The White Crosses memorial is freely accessible in public space and costs no admission.