Built for Kings, Stolen by Nazis, Claimed by Communists: The Neue Wache

The Neue Wache has stood on Unter den Linden for more than two centuries, surviving monarchies, dictatorships and democracy. Built in 1818 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel as a royal guardhouse, it embodied Prussian militarism from the start. For a hundred years, soldiers guarded the monarchy from this building until, after the First World War, with no more monarchy to guard, it was converted into a memorial to the fallen by architect Heinrich Tessenow. When the Nazis came to power, they transformed it into the “Heroes’ Memorial” and turned remembrance into propaganda. Hitler and his ministers staged elaborate wreath-laying ceremonies here, glorifying death for the Fatherland. After 1945, the ruined building stood in East Berlin, where the communist regime repurposed it as the “Memorial to the Victims of Fascism and Militarism.” They added a goose-stepping guard of honour and, in 1969, placed the remains of an unknown German soldier beside a concentration camp victim, an act still debated today. After reunification, the Neue Wache became Germany’s central memorial to the victims of war and tyranny. Its stark, empty hall now contains Käthe Kollwitz’s Pietà, a mother mourning her dead son. Today, it functions as Germany's central war memorial: a place of mourning rather than victory. ++++++ This show wouldn't exist without Patreon. Like the show? Consider supporting it:   / whitlamsberlin   ++++++ Want more Berlin history? Check these out: 🎙️ Podcast: History Flakes – The Berlin History Podcast https://www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com... 📸 Instagram:   / whitlamsberlintours   🎵 TikTok:   / whitlamsberlin   💬 Threads: https://www.threads.net/@whitlamsberl... 🦋 BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonnywhitlam... ++++++ Want to see Berlin together in real life? Check out my tours homepage: https://www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com ++++++ Sources The Ghosts of Berlin by Brian Ladd Faust’s Metropolis by Alexandra Richie Berlin by David Clay Large Blood and Iron by Katja Hoyer George, Nicholas and Wilhelm by Miranda Carter ++++++ Post production by Underpaid Mantis https://www.underpaidmantis.com ++++++ Image Credits (abridged) Key images from Wikimedia Commons and licensed under Creative Commons: Mark König, Diego Delso, Ansgar Koreng, Nina Gerlach, LoveIron, Mohammad Hijjawi, Derbrauni, Jörg Zägel, Beek100, and Ad Meskens. Public domain works by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Charles Meynier, Wilhelm Ternite, Carl Röchling, Richard Knötel, Bain News Service, and others. Includes Bundesarchiv material (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE) and sound by Walter_Odington (Freesound.org, CC0). Full image credits and links available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u...