Neue Wache

Standing here on the Unter den Lin-den, Berlin's historic royal boulevard, we face the Noy-ah Vah-kuh, or 'New Guard House.' This modest yet profoundly powerful building has occupied this spot for over two hundred years, and in…

The exterior of the Neue Wache is a quintessential example of Karl Friedrich Schinkel's neoclassical style, which sought to bring the clarity and dignity of ancient Greece to the streets of Berlin. The facade is dominated by a…

One of the most important symbols associated with the Neue Wache is the Iron Cross. This military decoration was designed by Schinkel himself during the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon. …

In nineteen thirty-one, following the defeat of Germany in World War One and the collapse of the monarchy, the Neue Wache underwent its first major transformation. With no royal family left to guard, the building's purpose was…

When the Nazis came to power in nineteen thirty-three, they quickly recognized the symbolic value of the Neue Wache. They looked at Tessenow's memorial and saw it as a useful tool for their own propaganda. …

After the war, the Neue Wache found itself in the Soviet sector of Berlin, which later became the capital of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. The communist regime restored the building in the nineteen sixties and…

Following the reunification of Germany in nineteen ninety, the Neue Wache was once again rededicated, this time as the 'Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Tyranny.' Chancellor Helmut…

As we leave the Noy-ah Vah-kuh and step back into the flow of the Unter den Linden, take a moment to look back at the building's facade. It is a structure that carries an immense weight of memory. …