The building that is home to the Memorial for the Uprising of June 17^th, 1953 is called the Detlev Rohwedder Building and is currently the head office for the German Finance Ministry and has been since 1999.[1] The building was originally constructed between 1935 and 1936 by architect Ernst Sagebiel to be used by the Nazi party. Under the Nazi's the building was the home of the Ministry of Aviation where the ministry was focused on aviation in both a civil and military capacity, but they were mainly focused on the reorganization of the German Air Force after the results of World War I.[2] The building took on a new function after WWII as it served as the "House of Ministries" for the German Democratic Republic of East Berlin and as a large seat of governmental power it was the place where the workers gathered during the Uprising.[3] At the building there are two pieces of art. The first is a mural painted on the building from 1952 that depicts happy and optimistic working-class people all with great-big smiles that is a style called "Socialist Realism" that was a kind of communist propaganda. The second piece of art is the memorial for the Uprising itself. Placed in front of the building and made of glass, the memorial shows an enlarged, black-and-white picture of the strikers making their way to the House of Ministries, creating a distinct contrast between the mural and the memorial.[4]

[1] "History - Federal Ministry of Finance - About." Bundesministerium Der Finanzen.

[2] Pickhardt, Stephen. "The Former Ministry on Aviation." Free Tours by Foot. February 23, 2016.

[3] "History - Federal Ministry of Finance - About." Bundesministerium Der Finanzen.

[4] Pickhardt, Stephen. "The Memorial for the Uprising of June 17, 1953." Free Tours by Foot. January 26, 2015.

This destination is the first stop on the Sites of Tension and Conflict in East Berlin tour. Click Here to return to the Overview page.

The Memorial for the Uprising of June 17^th, 1953 is important to the history of Berlin because it was the site of one of the most important events in the city's history. The protests of June 16^th, followed by the riots of the 17^th of June were a series of events that show us how the people of East Berlin reacted to the extreme Soviet influence that dominated nearly every aspect of their lives and by taking their protest to this site (the GDR's "House of Ministries"), they took their issues directly to the Soviet government officials. The main issues that led to the uprising were mostly economic as in 1952 the East German Government implemented a 5-Year plan part of which was to aggressively promote East German heavy industry. This used up a large amount of manpower with over 20,000 workers (many of them 25 and under) entering the industry every month. By 1953 many people in East Germany were starving and living conditions were 40% worse than in West Germany. Although, after Stalin's death in 1952 there were some changes to the government's harsh policies, the policies that directly effected workers was never addressed and so workers saw a 10% increase in hours worked but no increase in pay. Then, on June 15^th, the day before the first protest, workers from one particular area only received a third of the payment they should have been making for their increased hours, and that was the final straw that set them off on their protest the next day.[1] In messages sent between members of the Soviet Army stationed in Berlin and Moscow we learn what the members of the protest were asking for from their government on the 17^th. The main things that the demonstration called for was for a change in government, a decrease in labour quotas (the increased work I mentioned earlier), lower food prices, and for the restoration of a united Germany.[2] To stop the demonstration both tanks and soldiers were brought in to fire on the crowds that had formed in Berlin and other East German cities. There were dozens of reported deaths from the protest and after the situation had been dissolved there were also hundreds of people arrested with over 400 people being either sentenced to death or given very long prison terms at hard labour.[3] The importance of this site goes beyond its relevance as a place of resistance to the GDR and the Soviets. The events of the Uprising were simply a taste of what was to come as the tensions between the Soviets who controlled East Berlin, the people of East Berlin, and the rest of the world continued to rise.

[1] Rodden, John. "The Tragedy of 'June 17': East Germany's 'Workers'' Uprising" at Sixty.'" Society 51, no. 2 (April 2014): 172.

[2] "Report from A. Grechko and Tarasov to N.A. Bulganin, 9:30 p.m.," June 17, 1953, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive

[3] Rodden, John. "The Tragedy of 'June 17': East Germany's 'Workers'' Uprising" at Sixty.'" 173.

"History - Federal Ministry of Finance - About." Bundesministerium Der Finanzen. https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Web/EN/About/History/history.html.

Pickhardt, Stephen. "The Former Ministry on Aviation." Free Tours by Foot. February 23, 2016. https://freetoursbyfoot.com/former-ministry-aviation-berlin/.

Pickhardt, Stephen. "The Memorial for the Uprising of June 17, 1953." Free Tours by Foot. January 26, 2015. https://freetoursbyfoot.com/memorial-uprising-june-17-1953/.

"Report from A. Grechko and Tarasov to N.A. Bulganin, 9:30 p.m.," June 17, 1953, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, AGSh, f. 16, op. 3139, d. 155, ll. 10-11. Provided and translated by Viktor Gobarev. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/113124

Rodden, John. "The Tragedy of 'June 17': East Germany's 'Workers'' Uprising" at Sixty.'" Society 51, no. 2 (April 2014): 169–74.