Learning and memorial site for the victims of Nazi "euthanasia"

Current event information

The monument to the gray buses

From February until probably the end of 2024, the Grey Buses Memorial on Hugenottenplatz commemorates the victims of the
victims of the Nazi murders from the Erlangen sanatorium and nursing home (HuPflA).
Here: Video with Lord Mayor Florian Janik from February 6

The artists Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz created this memorial in 2006 for the Center for Psychiatry Die Weissenau near Ravensburg. A full-size bus cast in concrete of the same type that was used in 1940 and 1941 to travel from the nursing homes to the killing centers is a reminder of the mass murder. Inscribed on the memorial bus is the quote: "Where are you taking us?", the surviving question of a patient. This work is not only a memorial to the victims of the "euthanasia" murders; it also reflects on the deed and the perpetrators by using the gray buses, the tools of the perpetrators, as a means of transport for remembrance. The 70-ton concrete bus follows the administrative route of the "euthanasia" murders, marks the locations of the victims and perpetrators, and leaves them again.
The Grey Bus will remain at its respective installation site for as long as initiatives and communities agree among themselves.
agree among themselves. It is crucial that the memorial remains in motion.

As early as September 1940, 21 Jewish patients from the "HuPflA" were taken to Eglfing-Haar and deported from there to the Hartheim killing center near Linz. Between November 1940 and June 1941, seven further transports took place from the Erlangen sanatorium and nursing home to the Pirna-Sonnenstein and Hartheim killing centers. The officials and doctors responsible had a total of 905 patients deported and murdered there with gas. Many of them had previously been brought to Erlangen in collective transports. However, people were not only killed as part of "Aktion T4". According to current research, at least 700 of a total of 1,906 patients died between September 1939 and December 1945 due to malnutrition caused by "starvation diet" and structural neglect. The temporary erection of the memorial to the Grey Buses is part of the efforts to come to terms with the history of the Erlangen hospital murders. The core of these efforts is the creation of a "place of remembrance and future". This site is intended to commemorate the victims and remember the crimes. But it should also serve as a reminder to preserve the value and dignity of human life in the future.

The art project in Erlangen will be accompanied by events that focus on the topic of Nazi "euthanasia" and report on the further development of the memorial site in Erlangen. This also includes a traveling exhibition designed by the artists, which provides information about the historical background and the various sites.

Shaping remembrance

In 2015, all parliamentary groups and groups represented on the city council requested the creation of a "place of remembrance" for these people and asked the administration to initiate a dialog (parliamentary group motion 001/2015).

The advisory board (2017-2020)

In February 2017, an advisory board was formed for the establishment of a memorial to the "euthanasia" victims at the Erlangen sanatorium and nursing home, which included representatives from the university, the university hospital, the district of Middle Franconia, the district hospital and the city of Erlangen. The Max Planck Institute, the Jewish community and private individuals were also represented. The Lord Mayor (Chair), the Head of Education, Culture and Youth and the Head of Planning and Construction also took part in the meetings of the Advisory Board. The City Archive was responsible for the management.

It was an advisory body that made recommendations rather than legally binding decisions. The decision-makers were either the city council or the institutions responsible for the development of the site of the former sanatorium and nursing home, depending on their responsibilities. The advisory board prepared the first steps for the creation of a place of learning and remembrance.

Creation of a framework concept (2019-2020)

In July 2019, the renowned memorial site expert Dr. Jörg Skriebeleit, director of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial, and his research assistant Julius Scharnetzky were commissioned to create a framework concept for a future learning and memorial site. The framework concept with ten specific recommendations for action was presented on June 30, 2020. It will form the starting point for the further conception of the learning and memorial site.

The next steps

In 2021, the "Forum Erinnerungs- und Zukunftsort Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Erlangen" was established, which is made up of those involved in the project to date, stakeholders and citizens and is involved in an advisory capacity at the important milestones. The forum meets in public.

In 2022, the city of Erlangen, the district of Middle Franconia and the district of Upper Franconia launched an interdisciplinary urban and open space planning ideas competition. The task of the ideas competition was to propose a framework for a future place of remembrance and future for the Erlangen sanatorium and nursing home. The participants were asked to show how the historical site of the sanatorium and nursing home and the wider urban area of Erlangen could be used to raise awareness of the events and make history visible in a suitable way.

The following were involved in the process and the jury

• District of Middle Franconia
• District of Upper Franconia
• University Hospital Erlangen
• Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg
• State Building Authority Erlangen/Nuremberg
• Forum Place of Remembrance and Future Erlangen Sanatorium and Nursing Home.

The jury for the ideas competition awarded three prizes and two commendations in July 2023. Further information on the competition can be found at Ideas competition sanatorium and nursing home

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the concept for the place of remembrance and future, please contact: gedenken.gestalten@stadt.erlangen.de