Memorial "Weiße Kreuze"

Behind the east entrance of the Reichstag building (now the seat of the German Bundestag) lay the GDR’s border fortifications. The southern bank of the Spree belonged to West Berlin, while the water itself was already East Berlin territory. At the spot where the front border wall met the riverbank until 1990, the private Berlin citizens’ association established the “White Crosses” memorial site in 1971 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s construction.

Due to construction work on the Reichstagufer, the memorial site was temporarily relocated. Since June 17, 2003, it has been back on the banks of the Spree as an installation consisting of seven white crosses. It is intended to commemorate all those who lost their lives while attempting to flee from the GDR to West Berlin after the border was sealed off.

The following names and dates of death are inscribed on the crosses facing the land: “Günter Litfin, August 24, 1961; Ingo Krüger, December 10, 1961; Hans Räwel, January 1, 1963; Klaus Schröter, November 4, 1963; Heinz Sokolowski, Nov. 25, 1965; Marinetta Jirkowsky, Nov. 22, 1980; on the crosses facing the river: “Udo Düllick, Oct. 5, 1961; Werner Probst, Oct. 14, 1961; Philipp Held, Apr. 11, 1962; Axel Hannemann, June 5, 1962; Lutz Haberland, May 27, 1962; Wolf-Olaf Muszinski, March 1963; Chris Gueffroy, February 5, 1989"; in addition, the “unknown victims of the Wall” are honored.

The selection of names is explained by the history of the “White Crosses” memorial site . The memorials were initially erected at the sites where refugees had attempted to reach West Berlin and had either met with accidents or been shot by East German border guards.

Over the years, the effort required to maintain and care for the crosses, which were widely scattered, exceeded the capabilities of the Berlin citizens’ association. The memorials were concentrated at the site on the Spree.