The First Monument to Resistant Fighter Georg Elser
Erected in Berlin
Press release of September 24, 2008
The First Monument to Resistant Fighter Georg Elser Erected in Berlin
Monument on the “Road of Recollection” unveiled – minister Schäuble pays homage to the man who tried to assassin Hitler – the Ernst Freiberg Foundation sets an example.
The Ernst Freiberger Foundation today set a monument in Berlin to Georg Elser who tried but failed to assassin Hitler. On the “Road of Recollection” at the Spreebogen, in the vicinity of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, minister Wolfgang Schäuble unveiled a monument of resistance fighter Elser who was murdered in the concentration camp Dachau, mere weeks before the war ended.
It is the first appreciation of its kind in Germany. Some efforts had been made before in Munich and in Berlin to call attention to the carpenter’s brave and selfless act, yet all of them had remained unsuccessful. The Ernst Freiberger Foundation now sets an example: “Georg Elser’s face represents the other Germany, before 1945, listening to the clear voice of conscience even in dark times”, said the foundation’s founder Ernst Freiberger when the monument was unveiled in the capital.
Sixth monument on the “Road of Recollection”
By erecting monuments, accompanied by academic research, the Ernst Freiberger Foundation appreciates personalities of the first half of the 20th century as “heroes without swords” – they are people who have accomplished exceptional achievements and whose bearing has been admirable in extremely difficult times. Georg Elser is the sixth person of contemporary history to whom a monument is set on the “Road of Recollection” in Berlin. Prior to that, the foundation has honoured writer Albrecht Haushofer, computer pioneer Konrad Zuse, Germany’s former foreign minister Walter Rathenau, writer Thomas Mann as well as architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
After the Munich Agreement of September 1938, Georg Elser, a decided adversary of the Nazi regime, was convinced that Hitler was planning to go to war. He firmly believed that Hitler’s death was necessary in order to prevent greater evil happening to Germany. On November 9, 1939, Elser set off a bomb built by himself that he had hidden in a pillar of the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich. Hitler there gave a speech commemorating the coup he had attempted in 1923. The detonation killed eight people. Hitler survived because he – surprisingly – had left the hall 13 minutes earlier, in order to catch a train to Berlin.
A belated rehabilitation
After he had been arrested, Elser owed up to his deed, saying that it he had meant to secure peace in Europe. He became a “special prisoner of Hitler’s”, was given the alias “Eller” and was sent to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen, later to Dachau. That is where, following an order by Hitler, he was shot dead on April 9, 1945. He was 42 years old.
For a long time, his name was surrounded by rumours. Many years after the Second World War, Elser was still defamed. Even some historians regarded the carpenter as a marionette of the Nazis. His family was taunted and received no compensation for wrongful imprisonment. Only in 1969, did Anton Hoch, director of the Institute for Contemporary History, dispel any remaining doubt. A year later, historian Lothar Gruchmann published the protocols of Elser’s interrogation by the Gestapo. These protocols prove that Elser’s had planned and executed his courageous and selfless act all by himself.
Changing the course of world history
“To Elser, Hitler epitomised crime, war and immeasurable human suffering. That is why he decided to assassinate Hitler. If the attempt had been successful it would have changed world history like no other event of the 20th century”, declared Ernst Freiberger to a large number of guests from the fields of politics, culture, academia and public administration in Berlin. Elser got as close to Hitler as only Stauffenberg and his circle would manage to do, many years later; by then, Germany and Europe were laid in ruins and the Holocaust, had already taken place.
The “Road of Recollection” represents one of the fields of activity of the Ernst Freiberger Foundation, established in 1994. It also seeks to build a bridge between science and society, for example by investigating possibilities of reducing unemployment. Thus, at the “Amerang Disputes”, under the patronage of former Federal President Roman Herzog, international experts discuss significant issues that transcend cultural boundaries. The “Sunflower Meeting Point” at the Spreebogen in Berlin-Moabit encourages elderly people to participate in cultural activities.
The foundation’s founder Ernst Freiberger is the owner of the eponymous holding which is based in Amerang, Chiemgau. The holding’s main fields of business are real estate, health care and hotel business. In Berlin, Ernst Freiberger became known for developing the Spreebogen and restoring the historical Bolle dairy.
