The Berlin Milestones () are small monuments with mileage to the German capital Berlin.Berliner Meilensteine At the time of German division in the second half of 20th century, the milestones were furnished in numerous location in former West Germany. It has the Berlin Bear (Coat of arms of Berlin) on it. After the German Reunification it remained as a memorial of the history of German division. Many of the monuments are located on highways and federal roads.Jutta Wiedmann: Erinnerungskultur an westdeutschen Autobahnen auf Polen.pl, 22. September 2013
History The Berlin Milestones go back on initiative of the politician Gerd Bucerius, who was the chairman of the parliamentary committee for Berlin. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, then federal transport minister ordered the setting up of Berlin Milestones in 1953, which should contain the Berlin Bear with numbers of mileages to Berlin on the front.Claudia Pinl:Warthe im Westerwald auf digitale-kulturanthropologie.de (Volkskunde in Rheinland-Pfalz 20/2006)
To ensure West Berlin, which was surrounded by East Germany, remained in public awareness and to promote solidarity with the cities in West Germany, memorial stones with the depiction of the Berlin Bear and an indication of the distance to Berlin should be set up on the central reservation of the federal motorways at intervals of 100 kilometers.
Locations There are about 270 Berlin milestones worldwide.Standorte
Germany Aachen Monument of Berlin Bear made in 1964 (restored in 1998) located on freeway access A544. Location:
Bad Bergzabern Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 730 km located on Kurpark.
Baden-Baden Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 720 km located on federal road B500. Location:
Berlin Monument of Berlin Bear located in the borough of Nikolassee at the highway A115 near Checkpoint Bravo. Location: Monument of Berlin Bear located in the borough of Staaken in Spandau district located on the entry of Berlin on B5. Location:
Bielefeld Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 397 km located on Willy-Brandt-Platz. Location:
Bonn Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 570 km located on the "Berliner Freiheit" (Berlin freedom) avenue. Location:
Braunschweig Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 229 km located near the central station. Location:
Büsum Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 415 km located on the pedestrian zone on the holiday city at North Sea. Location:
Düsseldorf Monument of Berlin Bear located on Berliner Allee. Location:
Essen Monument of Berlin Bear with citation "Denkt an Berlin" (Think of Berlin). Location:
Frankfurt am Main Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 550 km and a sign board near the Frankfurt Airport. Location:
Hanover Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 280 km located on Berliner Allee. Location:
Heide Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 408 km located near the city centre. Location:
Helgoland Monument of Berlin Bear and the mileage of 456 km in the milestone located on the island of Helgoland at North Sea. Location:
Hildesheim Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 260 km located near the city centre. Location:
Kassel Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 362 km located on the square of German unity. Location:
Lübeck Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 318 km located on Berliner Platz (Berlin square). Location:
Mainz Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 563 km located on the access to Theodor Heuss Bridge. Location:
Mannheim Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 618 km located on the Wilhelm Varnhort avenue. Location:
Munich Monument of Berlin Bear with "Munich Berlin" on it located on A9 which connects Munich to Berlin. Location:
Münster Monument of Berlin Bear located on Berliner Platz (Berlin Square). Location:
Saarbrücken Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 755 km located on the access to Wilhelm Heinrich Bridge. Location:
Siegen Monument of Berlin with citation "Spandau dankt Siegen" (Spandau thanks Siegen). The district of Spandau in Berlin is twin town of Siegen since 1952. Location:
Würzburg Milestone of Berlin with mileage of 493 km located on Berliner Platz (Berlin square). Location:
Wuppertal Monument of Berlin with "Berliner Platz" (Berlin Square) on it located on Berlin square. Location:
Outside Germany Madrid Monument of Berlin Bear located in "Parque de Berlín" (Berlin Park). Location:
See also
United Buddy Bears Coat of arms of Berlin West and East Germany History of Berlin
References