Who shaped Berlin · Part 7
Polish Berlin: from the Polish trial to the Polish market
Poland is Berlin's closest neighbour, and their shared history runs from the Polish trial of 1847 through the invasion of 1939 to the Polish market at Potsdamer Platz. Here are the places that remember this history and where Polish culture lives today.
1847 the Polish trial in Berlin; in March 1848 the convicted are freed
1989 and 1990 the Polish market on the wasteland at Potsdamer Platz
51,404 people with Polish citizenship in Berlin (30 June 2025)
Since 2025 a memorial site for the Polish victims of the Second World War in the Tiergarten
Neighbours with a long history
Poland and Berlin share a long and often difficult history. After the partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, many Poles lived under Prussian rule, and Berlin was their capital. In 1847, 254 defendants stood trial here in the so-called Polish trial, accused of preparing an uprising in the Grand Duchy of Posen. Eight of them, including Ludwik Mierosławski, were sentenced to death and held in Moabit prison. In the March Revolution of 1848 they were freed by an amnesty and joined the revolution.
The darkest chapter began on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. More than five million Poles died in the Second World War and under German occupation. After the war the Wall divided here too: in the East there was official friendship between the GDR and the People's Republic, while in West Berlin from 1989 the Polish market grew on the wasteland at Potsdamer Platz, as Poles were suddenly allowed to travel freely and thousands came by bus and car to trade. It broke up again at the end of 1990. Today, according to the Statistical Office for Berlin-Brandenburg, 51,404 people with Polish citizenship live in Berlin, plus many Berliners with Polish roots.
Places of remembrance and culture
01 Memorial site for the Polish victims of the Second World War · Tiergarten
about 7 minutes on foot from Bundestag U-Bahn station
On the site of the former Kroll Opera opposite the Reichstag, Hitler announced the war against Poland on 1 September 1939. Since 2025 a temporary memorial site has stood exactly there for the more than five million Polish victims of the war and the occupation. On 3 December 2025 the Bundestag decided to build a permanent memorial, with the design to be decided by a competition involving Polish experts.
02 Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists · Prenzlauer Berg
about 8 minutes on foot from the Kniprodestraße/Danziger Straße tram stop
In Volkspark Friedrichshain stands a memorial built jointly by the GDR and Poland and dedicated on 14 May 1972, designed by Arnd Wittig and Zofia Wołska. It originally honoured the joint fight of Polish and German communists against National Socialism; since 1995 it has been dedicated to all resistance fighters and soldiers. It remains the most important memorial in Germany to the Polish soldiers of the Second World War.
03 Polish Institute · Mitte
about 3 minutes on foot from Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station
At Burgstraße 27 opposite Museum Island, the Polish Institute presents exhibitions, readings, concerts and films from Poland. It also organises filmPOLSKA, by its own account the largest Polish film festival in Germany, most recently for the 20th time in September 2025. The current programme is on its website.
04 Pilecki Institute on Pariser Platz · Mitte
about 3 minutes on foot from Brandenburger Tor station
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
Right by the Brandenburg Gate, the Pilecki Institute commemorates Witold Pilecki, a Polish officer who in 1940 volunteered to be deported to Auschwitz in order to organise resistance there and report on the crimes. Since September 2024 the institute has shown a permanent exhibition about him. Opening times and events are on its website.
Good to know
- At memorials: keep your voice down, do not climb on monuments, no posing for photos. On days of remembrance the police may restrict access around the memorial site in the Tiergarten, as most recently on 17 June 2026.
- A walk: from the Pilecki Institute at the Brandenburg Gate to the memorial site at the former Kroll Opera is not far, passing the Soviet War Memorial, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is just around the corner, more in part 5 and part 1.