The Parliament of Trees against war and violence

The Parliament of Trees is a historic site, a dynamic, ever-changing place of nature, memory and art.


Ben Wagin's commitment
The artist Ben Wagin's (1930-2021) engagement with the history of the division of Germany and the Berlin Wall goes back to 1961, the year the Wall was built. In November and December 1961, Ben Wagin and a number of other artists took part in a sculpture symposium in Tiergarten, which focussed on the brutal demarcation of the Berlin Wall. This was the first artistic confrontation with the Berlin Wall. Some of the sculptures created at the time have been preserved to this day in the area of the former Kroll Opera House in Tiergarten. The connection between the two places was elementary for Ben Wagin, just as the mighty ‘Lenné Oak’ standing near the stones on Scheidemannstraße / John-Foster-Dulles-Allee had enormous symbolic significance for him. It is a constituent part of his memorial ensemble.

Restless against war and violence

The relationship between man and nature is also thematised in the Parliament of Trees. This relationship is the theme of Ben Wagin's life, who always campaigned for the reconciliation of a civilisation at peace with nature.


With the Parliament of Trees against War and Violence, he has created a dynamic, ever-changing place of nature, remembrance and art. The site has been managed by the Berlin Wall Foundation since summer 2021.