Bebelplatz

Bebelplatz

Bebelplatz, formerly called Opernplatz, is located on the southern side of Unter den Linden, the main artery of Berlin.

The square is known due to the events that took place the night of May 10, 1933, when it was the scene of a great bonfire in which thousands of books of some authors censured by the Nazis were burned, like Karl Marx, Heinrich Heine Or Sigmund Freud.

A phrase borrowed from a book by Heinrich Heine, written in 1817 (more than 100 years ago), in which he says: "That was only a prelude, where books are burned, they end up burning people too."

In the center of the square you can see a glass slab that covers an empty shelf, a monument in memory of the burning of books of 1933. The size of the shelf is the one that had to occupy the books burned that tragic night.

Bebelplaz is surrounded by magnificent buildings; To the east of the square, you can see the beautiful building of the Berlin Opera, on the west side are the buildings of the Humboldt University and in the south is the Cathedral of St. Eduvigis, the oldest Roman Catholic church of the city.