Antikolonialdenkmal

The Anti-Colonial Monument in Bremen is a striking memorial in the form of an elephant built of dark red brick. It stands in Nelson Mandela Park in the Schwachhausen district, across from the Hermann-Böse-Gymnasium and close to the main train station. The monument was originally erected in 1932 as the Reich Colonial Memorial (Reichskolonialehrendenkmal), meant to glorify German colonial history and commemorate soldiers who had fallen in the colonies. It was not until 1989 that it was officially rededicated as an anti-colonial monument to encourage a critical examination of the colonial past. Since 2008 it has been a protected, registered monument, and it is maintained by the nonprofit association Der Elefant!, which champions diversity and tolerance.

The 33-foot-tall monument was designed by the sculptor Fritz Behn and executed by the architect Otto Blendermann. The figure of the elephant rests on a twelve-sided pedestal and a further, larger stepped base. Inside is a crypt that originally housed a book of the dead listing the names of soldiers who fell in the colonies during World War I. Terra-cotta plaques on the sides of the monument once commemorated the German colonies in Africa and the Pacific, while the back featured portraits of historical figures such as Franz Adolf Lüderitz and Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. These inscriptions and plaques were removed during later renovations, and the book of the dead was transferred to the Bremen State Archive.

Today the site serves as a place of reflection and remembrance. When it was renamed in 1990, a bronze plaque was unveiled pointing to the devastation European colonialism caused in Africa. Right next to the elephant, a circular memorial to the victims of the Nama and Ovaherero, made from stones of the Omaheke Desert, was added in 2009. The crypt is used for cultural events during the summer months, making the park a lively gathering place. The monument thus stands not merely as a historical relic but as an active site for confronting history and fostering intercultural dialogue, particularly in the context of the long-standing partnership between Bremen and Namibia.