Hamburg commemorates the victims of war and violence on Remembrance Day

Hamburg commemorates the victims of war and violence on Remembrance Day

On November 16, 2025, on the occasion of Remembrance Day, numerous politicians and club representatives came together in Hamburg to commemorate the victims of war and violence. Remembrance Day, which has been celebrated two Sundays before the first Advent since 1952, has a long tradition in Germany. Since 1922, this quiet holiday has been commemorating the horrors of past conflicts and the victims of National Socialism reports NDR.

The ceremony in Hamburg took place at the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial, where over 100,000 people were imprisoned during the Nazi era. Social Senator Melanie Schlotzhauer (SPD) emphasized that commemoration was both an obligation and a reminder. Carola Veit (SPD), President of the Hamburg Citizenship, spoke of Germany's historical responsibility and called for learning from the past for the future.

Remembering the past

As part of the memorial event, a wreath was laid at the memorial site. Over 40,000 people lost their lives while incarcerated in the Neuengamme concentration camp. The memorial emphasizes the importance of these memories in order to give the victims a face and not let the horrors of the memorial be forgotten.

An important part of the commemoration was the memorial hour in the main church of St. Michaelis, where the author and musician Reinhold Beckmann gave a moving memorial speech. Beckmann recalled that the Germans were both aggressors and genocidal people in World War II. In a personal moment, he performed the piece “Four Brothers” to remember his mother and her four brothers who lost their lives in the war.

Call for responsibility and respect

Farid Müller, chairman of the Hamburg regional association of the German War Graves Commission, called Remembrance Day a day of remembrance and responsibility for the present. He made it clear that commemoration does not only mean looking back, but also a call to take active action against current social challenges. This was also emphasized by Karin van Steeg from the Vriendenkring Neuengamme Foundation, who shared the painful memories of her own family, who were deported in 1944 and imprisoned in the Neuengamme concentration camp. Their call for mutual understanding and respect was a central appeal of this event.

With the reminder to learn from history and carry the lessons into the present, this day of mourning in Hamburg once again made it clear how important it is not to forget the past and to also take responsibility in the present.