1933 – The Day of Potsdam

March 21, 1933 went down in German history as the sinister ‘Day of Potsdam’. After the Reichstag fire in Berlin, Hitler used the opening ceremony of the newly elected Reichstag for a propaganda message.

In the Garrison Church, at that time burial place of the Prussian kings Frederick William I and Frederick II, the Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the President of the Reich Paul von Hindenburg celebrated the fatal alliance between German fascism and the Prussian army. The ‘Day of Potsdam’ is the symbol of the disastrous relationship between National Socialism and Prussianism and lead to the decree of the Enabling Act of 1933. This decree permitted the Nazis to enact unconstitutional laws without a vote of the parliament.

The Garrison Church burned down during bombing  in 1945 and the ruin was detonated in 1968 by decision of the SED. On April 14, 2005 – 60 years after the destruction –the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the church was laid as a symbol of reconciliation and opposition to war. The goal is to reopen the historical church by October 31, 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.