Bebelplatz, Berlin: history and visit

Bebelplatz, in Berlin

Bebelplatz is a historic square of Unter den Linden, sadly famous for the Nazi book burning of 1933, today marked by a memorial. The Berlin audio-guided tour stops here, with respect, to evoke this place of memory surrounded by prestigious monuments.

The square of the book burning memorial

Bebelplatz is a fine square surrounded by prestigious monuments, including the State Opera, St. Hedwig's Cathedral and a university building. But it is especially marked by a tragic event: it is here that in May 1933, the Nazi regime organised a great book burning, burning thousands of books judged contrary to its ideology, an act symbolic of barbarism and the destruction of culture. In the centre of the square, a moving underground memorial, visible through a glass pane in the ground, presents empty library shelves, evoking the vanished works. A plaque recalls the premonitory phrase of a poet: where they burn books, they will in the end burn people. You discover this place with respect.

What to see

Here you discover, with respect, the square surrounded by prestigious monuments and its moving underground memorial with empty shelves, visible through a glass pane in the ground, which recalls the Nazi book burning of 1933 and the premonitory phrase engraved nearby. Bebelplatz is a major place of memory. It is a stop to be discovered with respect.

Practical information

Bebelplatz lies along the Unter den Linden avenue, in the heart of Berlin, reachable on foot and by public transport. It is a public square freely accessible, with its underground memorial visible in the ground. It is best to observe the respect due to this place of memory.

What does the memorial of Bebelplatz commemorate in Berlin?

The book burning organised by the Nazi regime in May 1933, which burned thousands of books; the underground memorial with empty shelves, visible through a glass pane in the ground, evokes these destroyed works.