80: Memorial

T4 - Memorial and Information Centre for the Victims of the Nazi Euthanasia Programme 

( T 4 Memorial in Berlin, Germany)

T4 - Memorial and Information Centre for the Victims of the Nazi Euthanasia Programme is located on the edge of Berlin's Tiergarten. Planned in the open, the criminal acts of the National Socialists are in plain sight. First, you see a blue glass wall serving as a symbol of entrapment. Information boards convey the horrible details of the euthanasia programme. The information desk also shows videos and sound recordings from that time, which authentically convey the brutality of the crime.

Memorialising the "euthanasia" mass murder

Aktion T4 (Action T4) goes down in history as one of the most horrific crimes committed by the Nazis. The regime killed 70,000 mentally and physically handicapped people during the early years of the Second World War. Unofficial estimates run far higher. Organisation of the murders is undertaken by the central services of T4 housed at Tiergartenstrasse 4. Since 2014 it's been an important reminder and information centre of the euthanasia laws of the Third Reich. The monument's 24-metre blue glass wall at the Cultural Forum immediately catches your eye. The transparent wall stands out from the grey of the concrete square. The colour of the memorial symbolises the sky and commemorates the victims of this mass murder, and the use of glass is also deliberate. Permeable only by gaze, the installation shows how quickly fellow humans, although they are visible, can be systematically excluded. Here, the "euthanesia" killings are brought to our attention by a multimedia panel. Original documents give a rare glimpse into the euthanasia programme, with its utter ugliness and bureaucratic meticulousness. Sound recordings, videos and poignant witness statements make apparent the suffering of physically and mentally disadvantaged people in the Third Reich. The written texts are also written in Braille and is accessible to physically handicapped individuals so that information about the "euthanasia" killings as accessible to everybody.

In short: T4 - Memorial and Information Centre for the Victims of the Nazi Euthanasia Programme

-24 metre sky blue glass wall memorial.

-Panel with text information on the T4 programme.

-Film footage on the subject of euthanasia in the Third Reich, multimedia selectable.

-Audio documents with witnesses of the war.

-Barrier-free access and easy-to-understand written text.

-Remembrance of the Nazi regime at the Berlin Tiergarten: the other victims of the Third Reich

In Tiergarten Park, only a few minutes away from the T4 Memorial, is The Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism. Since 2012 it has commemorated 500,000 victims. The memorial created by Dani Karavan consists of a circular water basin with a triangle in the middle. Around the edge of the fountain is a poem. In the background: the melody Mare Manuschenge by Romeo Franz plays. On the stones are the names of the concentration camps. Also in Tiergarten is a monument to homosexuals persecuted under National Socialism, comprising a 3.6 metre high concrete block. Video screens show film clips on this topic in an endless loop.

Our tips for your visit

Take the S and U-Bahn lines U2, S1, S2 and S25 to Potsdamer Platz. From there it's a ten minute walk to T4 - Memorial and Information Centre for the Victims of the Nazi Euthanasia Programme. Alternatively, you can take buses 200 or M41 to stop Philharmonie, 100 metres from the memorial. It is accessible day and night and free of charge. Information is available via a multimedia console.

https://www.visitberlin.de/en/t4-memorial-and-information-centre-victims-nazi-euthanasia-programme