Mahnmal Bodesruh, Memorial tower on the former inner German border near Kleinensee, Germany.
Mahnmal Bodesruh consists of two 16.8-metre concrete slabs set on the legs of a triangle open to the east, carrying a viewing platform at 10.4 metres reached by a 52-step metal spiral staircase. Two memorial plaques on the side walls recall its construction and the divided Germany.
The memorial was built in 1963 by the municipality of Kleinensee and the state of Hesse, directly on the inner German border, and inaugurated on 17 June 1964 by Hesse's minister-president. Designed by Bad Hersfeld architect Karl Schumann, it commemorated the late returnees from prisoner-of-war camps and called for peaceful reunification. In 1990 the section of the memorial plaque showing the former eastern territories was removed.
The monument honors those who returned from prisoner-of-war camps after the war and waited at the border. It became a place of remembrance for the division of Germany and the hardships it caused.
The platform is reached by a metal spiral staircase of 52 steps and is open at all times. The tower stands on the access road to the Monte Kali spoil heap, about one kilometre southeast of Hönebach and one kilometre southwest of Kleinensee, right on the state border with Thuringia. Orientation boards on the parapet name the visible landmarks.
The 1990 removal of the memorial plaque's section showing the German eastern territories left the two side panels as they are today. The tower's 52-step metal spiral staircase and its 10.4-metre platform remain open at all times, without staff or opening hours.
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