in detail
The Oderbruch and the bordering Höhenstufen became a battlefield of World War II in the winter and spring of 1945. By January 31, 1945 Soviet troops near Kienitz had already formed the first bridgehead. On April 16, 1945 the last major offensive of the Red Army began. The “Berlin Operation” was aimed at definitively breaking the German resistance and ending the war in Berlin. In winter and spring 1945 more than 100,000 soldiers of different nationalities died during the fight for the bridgeheads and the “Battle at Seelower Höhen.” The war cost many lives in the area and destroyed a unique cultural landscape.
Immediately after the war, a monument and soviet soldier’s cemetery were created on the east end of the city of Seelow. In 1972 a museum opened. The permanent exhibition was carefully redesigned after 1990.
The memorial site today is a site of remembrance, admonishment and a meeting place. The permanent exhibition displays information panels about the battles and the difficult first years of peace. On display are photos, maps, fliers, newspaper reports, Wehrmacht orders, eyewitness accounts, models of the grounds, equipment and letters from relatives of fallen soldiers. There is also a slide show with a narrative in many different languages, the film “Battlefield before Berlin” and a number of new and old documentaries to watch. The newspaper archive, a photo archive and reference library also provided additional information.
One of the important aims of the Seelower Höhen Memorial and Museum in the present and future is to preserve the memory of the suffering of men in uniform and civilians during the final battles of World war II and to take this legacy as a basis for establishing an exchange between Germans and their eastern neighbors. The Seelower Höhen offers an extensive museum education program to groups of young people.
January 31 - April 18, 1945
Battle for the bridgeheads, springtime battle in Oderbruch, battle at Seelower Höhen.
November 1945
Establishment of a cemetery and monument for Soviet soldiers.
1972 and 1985
Extension of the memorial to include a museum.
April 23, 1995
Re-opening of the memorial museum.
