Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism

The Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism in Berlin was opened on 27 May 2008.Design of memorialThe Memorial was designed by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset.The Cuboid is made of concrete. On the front side of the cuboid is a window, through which visitors can see a short film of two kissing men. The work is the third of its kind in Germany following Frankfurter Engel (1994) in Frankfurt and Kölner Rosa Winkel (1995) in Cologne.The memorial was discussed by all parties in the Bundestag, which granted permission in 2003.Near the memorial is a signboard, which is written in German and English. There visitors can read over persecutions during Nazism and under Paragraph 175, the law during the 1950s and 1960s that outlawed homosexuality. It was reformed in 1969, attenuated in 1973 and finally voided in 1994.History of memorialGay victims of Nazism were not officially recognised in the immediate aftermath of the Third Reich - Paragraph 175 remained part of the German penal code during the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s, these "forgotten victims" were finally discussed. In 1985, for instance, president Richard von Weizsäcker remembered homosexuals as a "victim group". The group Der homosexuellen NS-Opfer gedenken and the organization Lesben- und Schwulenverband began promoting a memorial in Berlin in 1993.