Lüneburg Memorial: Memorial to the victims of Nazi euthanasia

Lüneburg Memorial: Memorial to the victims of Nazi euthanasia

The newly designed memorial in Lüneburg was ceremoniously opened on August 31, 2025. Minister of State for Culture Weimer made it clear at the opening ceremony that human life should never be considered “unworthy”. A sound understanding of universal human dignity is essential to understanding the atrocities of the past. The memorial, which is housed in the former bathhouse at the water tower on the grounds of the Lüneburg Psychiatric Clinic, offers a new permanent exhibition that offers a deep insight into the frightening history of euthanasia under National Socialism and shows how perfidious ideas were directed against sick and disabled people. Deutschlandfunk reports.

The exhibition offers an impressive connection by addressing the approximately 2,000 deaths and at least 820 forced sterilizations during the Nazi era in Lüneburg. In addition, how the relatives deal with the loss and the beliefs of the perpetrators are discussed. Such approaches are necessary to keep the culture of remembrance alive and not to forget the horrendous injuries that the system has left behind.

Historical roots and creation of the memorial

The memorial has a long history. It was opened on November 25, 2004 as the “Lüneburg Victims of Nazi Psychiatry” educational and memorial center and was given its current name in 2015. A new education center in the “Old Gardener’s House” was inaugurated on August 30, 2020. The focus of the memorial is on political and historical education in the context of psychiatry under National Socialism and the current issues associated with it. Since September 1, 2015, the memorial has been run by the “Euthanasia” Memorial Lüneburg e. V., which contributes significantly to bringing the topic into the public eye. pk.lueneburg.de reports.

Particularly shocking are the memories of the “children's department” in Lüneburg, in which 300 to 350 children were killed between 1941 and the end of the war. This was part of the extensive measures taken by the Nazi regime, which was already planning murderous operations against sick and disabled people before the attack on Poland in 1939. The infamous “Operation T4” was intended to victimize numerous innocent people who were classified as “hereditarily ill”. Such definitions included a variety of mental and physical illnesses, which only made the widespread cruelty seem even darker. Time provides insightful information about this.

A call to remember

The new permanent exhibition in Lüneburg is more than just a memorial; it is a place of learning and reminder. Here the bridge is drawn between history and today's society. The claim that human dignity should never be attacked is as important as ever. The memorial is intended not only to commemorate the industrial murders of the Nazi era, but also to encourage a conscious approach to memory. There is a need to give faces to the victims and to sharpen our understanding of human values ​​and defend them against all forms of injustice.