Anniversary of 8 May 1945
Berlin, 8 May 1945, the war is over. The date goes down in history as the day of liberation from National Socialism. If you look closely, the traces are still everywhere to be found in the cityscape today, 75 years after the end of the Second World War.
Examples are the bullet holes on the façade of the Natural History Museum or on the Victory Column. In the Reichstag, behind a protective pane of glass you will find the writings and signatures of Russian soldiers who immortalised themselves on the walls of the building they stormed between May 1945 and 1950.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary, numerous memorial sites in Berlin are commemorating 8 May with special events, which in 2020 is also a public holiday in Berlin. Starting with a large open-air exhibition at the Brandenburg Gate, the city's memorial and symbolic sites refer to the various aspects and events of that time. In the days around 8 May at the Brandenburg Gate, large-format picture prints will bear witness to the destruction of Berlin and provide an insight into urban life at the time. Various museums and memorials, including the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation and the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst, invite visitors to engage with the topic through educational programmes.