New Guardhouse Unter den Linden - Neue Wache

On the left-hand side of Berlin's Unter den Linden stands the quite small "Neue Wache" building. It was built by K. F. Schinkel in 1816-18 on the site of an earlier guardhouse, and is a massive brick structure with a Doric portico in the manner of a Greek temple. The relief on the pediment is by August Kiss (1842). President Paul von Hindenburg chose it to serve as a memorial to the fallen in the First World War, and the necessary alterations were carried out in 1931 (architect Heinrich Tessenow). Within the main hall, the walls of which were faced with limestone slabs, stood a tall block of black granite, lit by a roof-light, on which lay a wreath of oak leaves in gold and silver.

New Guardhouse Map

Since 1960, the building, altered in 1969, has been a memorial to the victims of Fascism and Militarism. In the center of the Hall of Honor, within a crystal cube, is the eternal flame, and below this are urns containing the ashes of the Unknown Resistance Fighter and the Unknown Soldier. On the side wall, in golden letters, are the words, "To the Victims of Fascism and Militarism." Socialist symbols have been removed, but the memorial remains. Behind the memorial lies a wood of chestnut trees and the building of the Maxim-Gorki theater. This classical 1827 building possesses a concert hall famous for its acoustics, where in 1829 Felix Mendelssohn performed J. S. Bach's St Matthew's Passion for the first time since the composer's death.

At the end of the left-hand side of Unter den Linden stands the Arsenal, now the German Historical Museum.