The night of the fires
On 10 May 1933, students and professors, cheered on by Joseph Goebbels, burned books by Heinrich Mann, Erich Kästner, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and many others here.
Urban Tales › Berlin › Bebelplatz
Bebelplatz: the history, and the empty library under your feet
This elegant square was built for the arts and learning, and it's where the Nazis burned around 20,000 books in 1933. Here's what you're looking at, and what to look for in the cobblestones.
Laid out1740s
Book burning10 May 1933
Books burned≈ 20,000
Memorial1995
Hear the Bebelplatz story, in the app's voice
A short preview. The full story plays on its own when you walk up to it with Urban Tales.
Three stories most visitors miss
1
2
The empty library
Look down through the glass plate in the square: Micha Ullman's memorial is an underground room of empty white shelves, with space for about 20,000 books.
3
Heine's warning
A plaque nearby quotes Heinrich Heine, writing in 1821: "Where they burn books, they will in the end burn people too."
TipCome back after dark, when the underground room glows through the glass. With Urban Tales running, the square's story plays as you reach Unter den Linden.
Nearby landmarks
Bebelplatz: common questions
What happened at Bebelplatz?
On 10 May 1933, the Nazis burned around 20,000 books here, among them works by Heinrich Mann, Freud and Einstein.
Where is the book burning memorial?
In the middle of Bebelplatz, under a glass plate set into the cobblestones.
Who designed the memorial?
The Israeli artist Micha Ullman; it was unveiled in 1995.