Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Germany Cologne Memorial to the Edelweiss Pirates
AO Edited

Memorial to the Edelweiss Pirates

A poignant mural honors the heroic teenage non-conformists who took on the Nazis and paid the ultimate price.

Cologne, Germany

Added By
Mictlān Tēcutli
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Part of the memorial mural in honour of the   wwwuppertal
Detail from part of the mural in memory of the “Edelweißpiraten”   wwwuppertal
  wwwuppertal
  wwwuppertal
Mural with information and poetry about the Edelweißpiraten   wwwuppertal
Memorial plaque to the Edelweiss pirates and other victims of the Nazis who were hung on this spot   Get-back-world-respect
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Under the Ehrenfeld railway bridge stands a plaque and memorial mural that commemorates the heroic group known as the Edelweiss Pirates. The Edelweißpiraten, as they were called in Germany, was a youth subculture group that emerged in the 1930s. 

The movement grew in response to Nazi totalitarianism, which included the indoctrination of children and teenagers into the Hitler Youth and the suppression of any perceived nonconformity. The social mores and behavior of the Edelweiss Pirates stood in direct contrast to the culture of the Hitler Youth, with the former advocating freedom of expression through music, dance, art, dress, and the intermingling of the genders. A popular line from a song of this period sung by the pirates sums up the ethos of this subculture: “Our song is freedom, love and life / We’re the Pirates of the Edelweiss."

However, the Edelweißpiraten were by no means a pacifist movement, nor were they practitioners of non-violent resistance. The group's slogan was in fact "Eternal War on the Hitler Youth." Pirates would ambush and disrupt patrols and meetings of the Hitler Youth brigades and brawl with them in the streets of most of Germany's major cities.

This rebellion clearly frustrated and even caused some concern for the Nazis who felt that their iron grip on the youth of Germany was slipping and which prompted one desperate official to write: "Every child knows who the Kittelbach Pirates are. They are everywhere; there are more of them than there are Hitler Youth... They beat up the patrols... They never take no for an answer." 

By the time World War II officially began, the group's resistance activities had escalated from brawling with the Hitler Youth to sabotaging railways and munitions factories, giving shelter to escapees from concentration camps and army deserters, and assisting the spies and forces of the Allies.  

In 1944, after the pirates assassinated a Nazi informant and their plan to blow up the headquarters of the Gestapo in Cologne was discovered, Himmler himself issued orders to infiltrate the group and arrest its ringleaders. In the aftermath of the Gestapo arrests, many pirates were to end up tortured or sent to concentration camps where they were classed as "political prisoners", "criminals" and/or "asocial elements."

The Nazis created a spectacle of terror in an attempt to scare the youth from joining the group by publicly executing 13 pirate ringleaders, who were hanged under the Ehrenfeld railway bridge. Today, this mural stands in memorial to them.

Related Tags

History Memorials Fascism Teens World War Ii Nazis Murals

Know Before You Go

The memorial mural can be seen underneath the Ehrenfeld railway bridge for free. 

Community Contributors

Added By

Monsieur Mictlan

Edited By

J0x, Ramm

  • J0x
  • Ramm

Published

October 21, 2021

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Memorial to the Edelweiss Pirates
9 Ehrenfeldgürtel
Cologne, 50825
Germany
50.950999, 6.917115
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Helios Lighthouse

Cologne, Germany

miles away

Cologne Central Mosque

Cologne, Germany

miles away

Church of St. Ursula

Cologne, Germany

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cologne

Cologne

Germany

Places 12

Nearby Places

Helios Lighthouse

Cologne, Germany

miles away

Cologne Central Mosque

Cologne, Germany

miles away

Church of St. Ursula

Cologne, Germany

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cologne

Cologne

Germany

Places 12

Related Stories and Lists

12 Murals Dedicated to Local Heroes

List

By Jonathan Carey

Related Places

  • Part of the museum exhibition showing the chairs in which some of the Nazi war criminals sat

    Nuremberg, Germany

    Memorium Nürnberger Prozesse (Nuremberg Trials Memorial)

    A museum that chronicles the history of the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi war criminals in the building where the trials were once held.

  • Main gates

    Natzwiller, France

    Natzweiler-Struthof

    Today this former Nazi concentration camp stands as a poignant memorial to the victims of fascism, and a warning from history.

  • Tübingen, Germany

    Silcher Monument

    This statue has a painful history, but activists have since recontextualized it as a way to educate visitors about the dangers posed by fascist regimes.

  • The ‘Furrow’ monument at the Stratište Memorial Complex

    Jabuka, Serbia

    Stratište Memorial Complex

    An abandoned monument remembering the "Pančevo Holocaust" now stands as a shadow of its former self.

  • Čačak, Serbia

    Čačak Mausoleum of Struggle and Victory

    This symbol of Yugoslav liberation decorated with 620 carved heads of mythical creatures is now a forlorn relic of another time.

  • A stylised bullet hole decorates a concrete pylon

    Zlatiborski okrug, Serbia

    Kadinjača Memorial Complex

    A grand Yugoslav memorial to the group of partisans who fought and died resisting western Serbia’s Nazi occupation.

  • The hotel as it looks today.

    L'Aquila, Italy

    Hotel Campo Imperatore

    This Italian ski resort rose to fame when Benito Mussolini was held prisoner there and then rescued by the SS.

  • This eerie memorial is a reminder of the atrocities committed on this site.

    Madona, Latvia

    Memorial in Smecere Pine Forest

    A haunting memorial to those who lost their lives to the Nazi regime lies hidden in the woods.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.