A short clip from the ceremony held in Berlin to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler
20 July 2019 - Bendlerblock, Berlin
THE BENDLER BLOCK
The term "Bendler Block" refers to a historic building complex located near the Tiergarten park along the southern edge of what was once the diplomatic quarter of Berlin. Until 1945, the buildings were used by the military. It was here that the expansion of the German navy was planned during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Later, during the Weimar Republic, military leaders sought here to define the role of the Reichswehr in the now democratic state. The Bendler Block was also the site of Hitler's speech of February 3, 1933, on "Lebensraum (living space) in the east." Yet the site is best remembered as the center of the attempt to overthrow the National Socialist regime on July 20, 1944.
The German Resistance Memorial Center is located in the historic section of the former headquarters of the Army High Command on Stauffenbergstrasse 13-14 (Bendlerstrasse until 1955).
Reconstruction of the heavily damaged complex was begun following the military and political defeat of National Socialist Germany. During the 1950s, the complex was used primarily by agencies of the German federal government and the state of Berlin.
Today, the commemorative courtyard accessible from the Stauffenbergstrasse represents the center of the Bendler Block. It is dedicated to the memory of the officers executed here on the night of July 20, 1944. The permanent exhibition Resistance to National Socialism on the second floor of the historic building comprehensively documents the motives, methods, and goals of the struggle against the lawless National Socialist state.