The Tannenberg Memorial commemorated fallen German soldiers of the second Battle of Tannenberg in 1914, which was named after the medieval battle of the same name. The victorious German commander, Paul von Hindenburg, became a national hero, and was later the first and only, free elected Reichspräsident of Germany > MAP & Main Tower >>> Entrance Tower >>>

Dedicated by Hindenburg on the 10th anniversary of the battle of Tannenberg in 1924 near Hohenstein (Ostpreußen) (now Olsztynek, Poland), the structure, which was financed by donations of the German people, was built by the architects Johannes and Walter Krüger of Berlin and completed in 1927. The octagonal layout with eight towers, each 67 feet (20 m) high, was influenced by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II's Castel del Monte, and by old Germanic Burial Grounds, Inspiration came also from the classic film "The Nibelungen", by Fritz Lang (1924).

When Reichspräsident Hindenburg died in 1934, his coffin and that of his wife, who had died in 1921. Hindenburg visited the Tannenberg memorial many times, as a "private" man - See a picture of one of his visits on oure Main Page.. Adolf Hitler ordered the monument to be redesigned and renamed "Reichsehrenmal Tannenberg", after a rebuilding period in 1935, including now the Hindenburg Tower (5). As the Red Army approached in 1945, German troops removed Hindenburg's remains, by strict order of Adolf Hitler, and partly demolished key structures (Hindenburg Tower 5 and the Entrance Tower, to avoid destruction by the Red Army, as this was expected due experiences from the past. At the end of the 1950s, till early 1980`s the new Polish authorities razed the site, leaving only few traces. Still the structures under the Hindenburg Tower remanin intact, with 20 unknown soldiers at rest.

The memorial was in a prominent place in a shape reminiscent of the castles of the Teutonic Knights. The monument's location on a hilltop was accentuated by massive earthworks and landscaping designed to look as if nature alone had shaped the site. The design influenced other projects undertaken by architects and builders during the era.

A gathering of more than 100-thousand came to the dedication of the newly finished memorial in September 1927. The 80 year old Hindenburg was dressed in the uniform of a Colonel-in-chief of a Masurian regiment to which he'd been appointed by the Emperor (who had since abdicated). His speech was deemed highly nationalistic and in keeping with the times for the Weimar Republic, but was not well received outside Germany, as Hindenburg - in the name of the German people, refused to take the blame on World War 1 on the German people allone. An extract from the speech was later carved into a bronze plaque by the Nazi regime and installed on the right side of the entrance tower of the memorial. Six miles of veterans, resplendent in Imperial uniforms, paid homage to Hindenburg and the 20 unknown German soldiers from the 1914 battle who were interred at the memorial.

The architects had also built an Restaurant and hotel near the entrance of the memorial, in traditional East Prussian style. "The Tannenberger Krug". The numbers of visitors rised during the Nazi era, that the Tannenberger Krug even required to be extended.

In August 1933 the Nazis held a massive demonstration at the memorial to commemorate the anniversary of the battle. The Polish government allowed 1,500 cars to transit through the Polish Corridor. Among those attending were Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Franz von Papen and Erich Koch, East Prussia's Nazi governor.

A year later, the monument again came to prominence on the death of Paul von Hindenburg. Hindenburg had requested a simple service and that he be interred next to his wife (who had died in 1921) in Hanover. However, Hitler decided to seize the opportunity for propaganda and instructed Albert Speer to ensure that the day was spectacular. It began with the transportation of the deceased president in the dark of night, on a gun carriage, from Hindenburg's East Prussian home Neudeck. Following a torch-lit route and escorted by infantry and cavalry, the cortège made its way to Hohenstein.

Hindenburg was originally buried in tower 2 (World War Tower) of the monument on 7 August 1934.

On 2 October 1935, the anniversary of Hindenburg's birthday, the President's bronze coffin was relocated to a new, sombre chamber, within tower 5 - the Hindenburgturm, where he was joined by his wife Gertrud, who was moved from the family plot in Hanover. The new crypt, which was completed in the fall of 1935, was located directly below the south tower. To create an entrance to the crypt, Hindenburg and the 20 unknown German soldiers from the 1914 battle were temporarily disinterred, and the level of the plaza was lowered by 8 feet (2.4 m), with stone steps surrounding it on all sides. The unknown soldiers were re-interred in the side chapels. Designed by the Kruger brothers and carved by Paul Bronisch, the entrance to Hindenburg's crypt was dominated by two fourteen-foot sculptures of the Eternal Watch, known as the Ewige Wache, which were carved out of more than 120 tons of imported Konigsberg granite. The mausoleum had a dramatic vaulted ceiling.

The re-interment of the Field Marshal was marked by much pomp and ceremony by the Hitler administration, who declared that the upkeep of the memorial would thenceforth be carried out at government expense. The sarcophagus was draped in the German War Flag for the ceremony, at which Adolf Hitler performed the rededication. Masuria where the memorial was built was going through an economic resurgence at that time and nationalistic spirit was running high, on top of this Hitler's remarks and the ceremony of re-interment caused one newspaper to claim "a glorious return of the Teutonic Order".

From 1936-1939 a travelling exhibition about Masuria, but centred on the Tannenberg battle and memorial, toured Germany. The Baedecker guide of 1936 described the Tannenberg Memorial "Where President Hindenburg rests beside his fallen comrades" as "a place of national pilgrimage"

In January 1945, as Soviet forces advanced into East Prussia, Hitler ordered the lead coffins of Hindenburg and his wife to be disinterred and along with some of the regimental standards in the tomb, removed to safety. They were first moved to a bunker just outside Berlin, then to a salt mine near the village of Bernterode, Thuringia (in north central Germany), along with the remains of both Wilhelm I, German Emperor and Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great).