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White Crosses (in German: Weiße Kreuze) is a memorial for those who died during the Cold War at the Berlin Wall. It is located at the shore of the river Spree in Berlin next to the Reichstag building, which houses the German parliament. Established by the private group Berliner Bürger-Verein on the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Wall in 1971 it was first located east of the Reichstag on a fence directly in front of the wall. After the German reunification in 1990 it kept its location until construction of the new government buildings next to the Reichstag was started at the end of that century – Berlin was chosen to be the new capital of Germany.

During construction the memorial was moved to a location south of the Reichstag next to the Tiergarten. On the 50th anniversary of the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany a second set of crosses was erected on the riverbank, which is slightly north-west of the original location. The opening speech was given by then President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Thierse.

Victims' names

The names of 13 victims are inscribed on both sides of the 7 crosses. One cross is devoted to the unknown victims of the wall. The selection contains the first and last victim who were killed by gunfire. Most of the victims died between 1961 and 1965.

landside

• Günter Litfin, 24 August 1961
• Udo Düllick, 5 October 1961
• Hans Räwel, 1 January 1963
• Klaus Schröter, 4 November 1963
• Heinz Sokolowski, 25 November 1965
• Marienetta Jirkowsky, 22 November 1980
• "den unbekannten Opfern an der Mauer" (German: to the unknown victims of the wall)

riverside

• Werner Probst, 14 October 1961
• Ingo Krüger, 10 December 1961
• Philipp Held, 11 April 1962
• Axel Hannemann, 5 June 1962
• Lutz Haberlandt, 27 June 1962
• Wolf-Olaf Muszinski, March 1963
• Chris Gueffroy, 5 February 1989

References

1. ^ berlin.de: “Weisse Kreuze” memorial / German Bundestag
2. Web archive of the German Bundestag: Ansprache von Bundestagspräsident Wolfgang Thierse zur Fertigstellung des westlichen Spreeplatzes und zur Wiederaufstellung der Mauerkreuze am 17. Juni Speech of the President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Thierse on June, 17th 2003

v t e Berlin Wall
Main articles	Inner German border Iron Curtain Wall of Shame East Berlin West Berlin German reunification Eastern Bloc emigration and defection Republikflucht Berlin Crisis of 1961 Fall of the Berlin Wall Schießbefehl
Memorials, museums and galleries	Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer White Crosses East Side Gallery Checkpoint Charlie Museum Topography of Terror Mauerpark Chapel of Reconciliation
Border crossings	Bornholmer Straße Checkpoint Charlie Checkpoint Bravo Berlin Friedrichstraße station Glienicke Bridge Invalidenstraße Oberbaum Bridge Sonnenallee Tränenpalast, Friedrichstraße station
People who died breaching the Wall	Klaus Brueske Peter Fechter Winfried Freudenberg Christian-Peter Friese Chris Gueffroy Marienetta Jirkowsky Cengaver Katrancı Erna Kelm Czesław Kukuczka Horst Kutscher Günter Litfin Dorit Schmiel Egon Schultz Olga Segler Ida Siekmann Heinz Sokolowski Hildegard Trabant Rudolf Urban Christel and Eckhard Wehage
Others associated with the Wall	Günter Schabowski Riccardo Ehrman Erich Honecker Konrad Schumann Walter Ulbricht David Hasselhoff Jutta Fleck
The Wall in speeches	"Ich bin ein Berliner" "Tear down this wall!"
In popular culture	Films and TV series Escape from East Berlin (1962) The Wall (1962) Stop Train 349 (1963) The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965) Freiheit (1966) Funeral in Berlin (1966) The Soldier (1982) Octopussy (1983) Gotcha! (1985) Wings of Desire (1987) Judgment in Berlin (1988) Das Versprechen (1995) Sonnenallee (1999) The Tunnel (2001) Buffalo Soldiers (2001) Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) Bornholmer Straße (2014) Bridge of Spies (2015) Atomic Blonde (2017) Deutschland 89 (2020) Documentaries The Road to the Wall (1962) The Tunnel (1962) Rabbit à la Berlin (2009) Novels The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) Funeral in Berlin (1964) Judgment in Berlin (1984) Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee (1999) Edge of Eternity (2014) Songs "West of the Wall" (1962) "Holidays in the Sun" (1977) "Nikita" (1985) Other media The Berlin Wall (1991 video game) The Day the Wall Came Down (1997 sculpture)
Other	List of Berlin Wall segments Ghost station Steinstücken Grenzgänger (Cross-border commuters) The Shame

52°31′11″N 13°22′37″E / 52.519635°N 13.376831°E / 52.519635; 13.376831

• Berlin Wall
• Monuments and memorials in Berlin