Memorial for the Gay and Lesbian Victims of National Socialism in Cologne
First memorial of its kind erected by a trade union — a 1995 riverside stone for gay and lesbian Nazi victims, inscribed 'Totgeschlagen – Totgeschwiegen'.
Since 1995, a memorial near the Hohenzollernbrücke on the Rhine riverbank has commemorated the persecution of homosexuals during National Socialism. It was the first memorial of its kind to be erected by a trade union.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Memorial / commemorative stone
- Location
- Rheingarten/Frankenwerft at the Hohenzollernbrücke, Altstadt-Nord
- Erected
- 24 June 1995
- Donor
- Trade union ÖTV Köln (now Ver.di)
- Inscription
- "Totgeschlagen – Totgeschwiegen" ("Beaten to Death – Silenced to Death")
- Notable
- First memorial of its kind erected by a trade union
The memorial was donated by a trade union – a historic first: the ÖTV Cologne was the first trade union ever to erect a dedicated memorial for gay and lesbian Nazi victims. The location directly at the Hohenzollernbrücke was also deliberately chosen, as a public urinal that had served as a discreet meeting point for gay men since the turn of the century once stood there until its destruction in World War II.
Age comparison
Age compared with other places in Cologne.
The Act of Remembrance
The memorial's full inscription reads: "Totgeschlagen – Totgeschwiegen, den schwulen und lesbischen Opfern des Nationalsozialismus" — "Beaten to Death – Silenced to Death, for the gay and lesbian victims of National Socialism." While lesbians were not subject to systematic persecution during this period, they are explicitly named because their living conditions and social infrastructure were also affected. The opening words also allude to the victims' situation in post-war West Germany and to ongoing discrimination in the present day.
Origins
The initiative was launched in March 1990 by the working group for lesbians and gay men within ÖTV Köln, with Jörg Lenk remaining the driving force until the memorial's erection. City council representatives initially wanted to replace "schwul und lesbisch" with the more clinical term "homosexuell"; thanks to pressure from the Greens, the choice of wording was left to the initiators. A restricted competition among 25 artists was held in 1993, and a fundraising campaign raised 30,900 DM. The city received the memorial as a gift from the union.
A Location with Meaning
The chosen site in the Rheingarten directly beside the Hohenzollernbrücke — with Museum Ludwig and Cologne Cathedral as a backdrop — is no coincidence. This stretch of the Rhine was long a meeting place for gay men, offering anonymous encounters away from bourgeois public life. A public urinal used since the turn of the century stood here until its destruction in the Second World War; in the post-war years, the bridge's damaged stair towers were repurposed as a gathering spot.
Historical Significance
With its erection in 1995, this became the second non-plaque memorial in Germany dedicated to the persecution of homosexuals. It was preceded by the Frankfurter Engel in Frankfurt in 1994; the Berlin memorial followed in 2008. Before these, the German-speaking world had only commemorative plaques at former concentration camps and at Nollendorfplatz in Berlin — the very source of the words used in Cologne's inscription.
Timeline
- um 1900Public urinal near Hohenzollernbrücke becomes a gay meeting point (since the turn of the century)
- März 1990ÖTV Cologne's lesbian and gay working group launches the initiative for the memorial
- 1993Restricted competition among 25 artists proposed by the city's cultural office
- 11. Dezember 1994Frankfurt Angel inaugurated – first non-plaque gay memorial in Germany
- 24. Juni 1995Memorial unveiled on Cologne's Rhine embankment near Hohenzollernbrücke
- 27. Mai 2008Memorial for homosexuals persecuted under National Socialism inaugurated in Berlin
Map
Blue dots: other places nearby — tap to explore.
You might also like
Comments
- Loading comments…
Sources & links
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-06-27