Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Park, Memorial park in Neustadt-Süd district, Cologne, Germany
Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Park lies in Cologne's Inner Green Belt in Neustadt-Süd, bounded by Aachener Straße, Universitätsstraße, Bachemer Straße and the railway grounds, next to the Aachener Weiher pond and the Museum of East Asian Art. Its ground is an artificial mound of wartime rubble, the so-called Mont Klamott or Aachener Berg, now planted with tall trees.
The site served as the Maifeld for mass gatherings during the Nazi era and later became a debris disposal site after World War II. It was later restored as a symbol of the peace movement.
The park's name recalls the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Its centrepiece, unveiled on 5 August 2007, is Hannes Helmke's memorial against nuclear weapons, an origami crane referring to the Japanese legend that folding 1000 cranes grants a wish, and to the student Sadako Sasaki. Three trees surround it: a ginkgo for Hiroshima, a Japanese flowering cherry for Nagasaki and a black poplar for Cologne.
The park lies between Aachener Straße, Universitätsstraße, Bachemer Straße and the railway grounds, next to the Aachener Weiher and the Museum of East Asian Art. The terrain is an artificial mound of postwar rubble, so paths climb; the viewing platforms and sightlines cut into the hill no longer work because the trees have grown taller. The memorial stands among three trees: a ginkgo for Hiroshima, a Japanese flowering cherry for Nagasaki and a black poplar for Cologne.
The memorial unveiled on 5 August 2007 is surrounded by three trees: a ginkgo for Hiroshima, a Japanese flowering cherry for Nagasaki and a black poplar for Cologne. Its origami crane refers to the legend that folding 1000 cranes grants a wish, and to schoolgirl Sadako Sasaki.
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