Emma A monument to the man who almost killed Hitler
The Georg Elser Memorial in Berlin is a little different from normal memorials, this one is lit up and is off the beaten track.
In 1938 Georg Elser went to see Hitler’s annual speech on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. Although he wasn’t able to get into the hall during the speech, he sneaked in afterwards for a look and to make a plan. His plan involved stealing explosives and building timed explosives.
The plan was, after eating at the Bürgerbräukeller restaurant, Elser would hide in the adjoining beer hall after its doors were locked and work on hollowing the column behind the speaker’s rostrum. Here he would hide his timed explosive all set to explode on 8th November as Hitler gave his speech.
Unfortunately, Hitler had already left the event as his flight had been cancelled due to fog. To enable Hitler to travel by train, the meeting started half an hour early. This meant that Hitler had already left the building. That night, eight Nazi officers were killed and 63 were injured.
Elser was arrested and killed on Hitler’s orders in Dachau concentration camp.
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Where
Willhelmstrasse near An der Kolonnade
Berlin
Transport
U-bahn Mohrenstrasse U2 line
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