Bebelplatz is a famous square in Berlin. Before WWII, it was called the Opera Square, but after the war is named after August Bebel, the leader of the German Socialist-Democratic party in the 19th century. Around the square, you'll find the Opera House, the famous Humboldt University, and the Cathedral of st. Hedwig – an 18th-century Catholic church.
The Bebelplatz is known for the Nazi event of burning books on May 10th, 1933. The Nazi party, who took over the country by democratic elections, burned 20 thousand books that night, most of them of Jews, scientists, and philosophers.
The Israeli artist Micha Ulman designed the underground memorial in the exact spot where the burning took place. It's an underground room with a glass ceiling and empty bookshelves, with room for 20,000 pieces. Next to the memorial stands a plate with Heinrich Heine's quote: " Where they burn books, they will too, in the end, burn people."
