20260322 Gedenkfeier für Grundrechtsstele

22.03.2026 Gedenkfeier für Grundrechtsstele

Commemoration Ceremony for the Fundamental Rights Stele

Yesterday morning, at the start of spring, we gathered on the banks of the Spree behind the Bundestag with several visitors to commemorate the destruction of the stele inscribed with Article 20 of the German Basic Law. Next to Dani Karavan’s artwork featuring Articles 1–19 of the Basic Law, the stele — created by the artist group "Association for the Renewal of the Federal Republic According to Its Own Ideals" — was to stand in gold on beech wood, inscribed with Article 20 of the Basic Law.

After the stele was presented as a gift on the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic, it was removed and confiscated by the police on the night of May 23, 2019. Following seven years of legal proceedings that reached the Federal Constitutional Court, it was destroyed by the police in violation of several fundamental rights. The full story is documented on our website and on unsere-verfassung.de.

Of course, this campaign — which commemorates the destruction of our fundamental rights, symbolically at the start of spring — is by no means intended as a capitulation to state authority, but rather to announce that the people will reclaim their fundamental rights. The invitation to yesterday’s event stated the following:

Our response in the realm of art: A motion has long been pending in the Bundestag to supplement the beechwood stele bearing Article 20 in gold with a cherrywood stele bearing Article 1 in platinum, and to erect both in the large plenary hall, so that in the future all proceedings in the Bundestag may take place within the force field of these two articles. (See our motion: https://deine-verfassung.de/akt11/Antrag-Baerbel-Bas.pdf, but see also the Bundestag’s despicable reactions to the motion: https://deine-verfassung.de/akt13/BVerfG.pdf, page 14 ff).

To move closer to this goal and, at the same time, to create a starting point for real human encounters in the spirit of restoring the human rights that have been violated in Germany, we are now carving Article 1 of the Basic Law into cherry wood [3] right next to Dani Karavan’s stele artwork at the Bundestag.

The campaign kicks off on the 77th anniversary of the Basic Law, Saturday, May 23, 2026, at Reichstagufer 2, Berlin.

Ralph Boes, speaking on behalf of the Association for the Renewal of the Federal Republic in Accordance with Its Own Ideals , listed the individual events and violations of fundamental rights over the past seven years in a moving speech at yesterday’s ceremony.

Ralph Boes, Public Address on the state destruction of the artwork Article 20 of the Basic Law in gold on beech wood at Dani Karavan's monument ‘Basic Law '49’ on March 21, 2021, in Berlin.

I. (Greeting)
In the name of the Basic Law in the name of the truly always valid universal human and also freedom rights that form the basis of this Basic Law, that is:
In the name of a reality that ALWAYS applies, even if our politicians and their puppet masters would prefer it otherwise...
as well as in the name of a republic whose ideals and principles after the dark experiences of the so-called Third Reich were formed FROM these freedom rights and FOR THE PROTECTION of these freedom rights – as far as possible then –
In the name of a republic
that wanted to be a SERVANT of the free human being
instead of using them for other purposes
and an attendant in the development of a humanity
where individuals determine themselves
and are not shaped by external powers...
i.e. in the name of a republic that has long since perished,
we welcome you here to the farewell of an artwork that was meant to bring forth the principles of state structure here – at this place – for the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law and the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is now being destroyed by the state.
We welcome all of you who can be here today,
and also all of you who are unable to physically participate in this farewell today,
partly because you cannot be in Berlin,
partly because other obligations bind you...
But we also welcome you who are present,
even though you cannot be seen
– for the spirit of the Basic Law is immortal –
and so are the spirits that uphold it.

II. (Current Situation 1)

We want to celebrate a dignified farewell for the artwork Article 20 of the Basic Law in gold on beech wood. Before I speak about the artwork itself, I would like to say a word about the special temporal context in which its final destruction occurs:
The stele was carved in 2018 at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, exactly at the place where, two years later, the first protests against the Corona measures began in Berlin, and one year later – in 2019 – it was erected here for the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law in May and the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November...
Back then, seven years ago, when we erected the stele here, one could say that the world seemed still almost in order. The Titanic was already on a course toward the iceberg, but had not yet hit it.
It had long been the case that, for example, in Hartz IV, human rights had been set aside, and that also – through the establishment of the EU and TTIP – the rights of Parliament were to be completely set aside... which are just two of the incredibly many other symptoms... but the course could still have been changed if the voices of those who urged adherence to human rights and the observance of the liberal-democratic basic order of this republic had been listened to.
Right after the end of our action and then the final confiscation of our stele in October and November 2019, Corona hit in February 2020, and two years later, the war with Russia followed, during which, today, human rights, the right to physical integrity and self-determination regarding medical experiments, the right to freedom of expression, and even the functioning of our rule of law and economy have been set aside almost completely.

III. (Current Situation 2)

Today, the wars in Gaza and Iran, as well as other wars provoked worldwide, come into play, along with a transformation of the entire politics that relies solely on naked violence instead of any form of dialogue and understanding – a politics that is now heavily cultivated by Trump but has long been carried out by the USA, the EU, and Germany, particularly against Russia, which is indefensible in terms of human rights, world history, and the principles of the Basic Law, let alone forgivable in any way.
The Titanic is sinking.
If one were to describe our politics today, it would be that it is helplessly, wildly, and blindly paddling in the destructive whirlpools that it has caused itself through egregious lack of principles. It is engaged in the destruction of Germany and is now pulling us into wars against our own will that could far surpass the devastations and conflicts of the 20th century

IV. (The Idea of the Stele)

Dear friends – in the establishment of the stele for Article 20 of the Basic Law – here – it was not only about celebrating the beauty of the Basic Law IN ITS ENTIRETY but also simultaneously bringing to light the rampant lack of principles in the actions of our state. Here, through Dani Karavan, the human and civil rights have been unfolded as they were laid out in the Basic Law in 1949 – and this in a way that is truly unparalleled in beauty and depth. However, Article 20, which includes the principles of state structure, contains the democratic, legal, and social order of our republic, sets the allowed framework for politicians' actions, and grants the people full sovereignty ("All state power emanates from the people") and the right to resistance to all Germans, is nowhere to be found here.
This absence of the principles of state structure at the most significant site of artistic commemoration of the Basic Law seemed to us a poignant sign of the lack of principles – one could also say: the unconstitutionality – of politics, and ultimately led us to the idea of establishing these principles here precisely because they are missing for the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law.
At the same time, we sought to do this in a way that our criticism of the lack of principles in politics emerged alongside the beauty and perfection of the Basic Law in a single act.

V. (The Conflict in the Sense of the Artwork)

The way to bring these two concerns together was quite simple: According to the principle that it is entirely inappropriate to seek permission from those powers that do everything to subvert the principles of state structure for the establishment of these principles, we undertook the erection of the stele here 'without permission.' The image should be that when politics no longer cares about democracy and the rule of law and even betrays its unconditional commitment to the protection of human dignity, it is the TASK OF US CITIZENS to stand up for the validity of the Basic Law, especially – and precisely! – when it does not align with the wishes of our authorities.

VI. (The Reaction of the State)

Only because of the 'unauthorized' manner of its installation – which in no way constituted a crime, but in terms of lower-order laws was nothing more than a negligible administrative offense, one that was not even penalized with a fine, but in the context of artistic freedom was an absolutely permitted provocation of the state – and has in no way truly endangered anyone, but rather served to open up a deeper understanding of the Basic Law for a large number of people...
I repeat: only because of the 'unauthorized' manner of its installation was the stele declared a 'danger to public order' and will therefore be destroyed. However, it does not pose a danger to public order but rather to a political hubris that, in its own excess, breaches every order, pursues unconstitutional paths, and, as it does this in dimensions that lead us to destruction, constitutes a HIGHEST danger to public order.
With this, the state has shown itself: It cannot bear to see itself in the mirror of its ideal and must therefore destroy this mirror in double form: first, in the stele, where its ideal was physically manifested here, and secondly, by breaking Article 5 of the Basic Law, which guarantees freedom of art.

VII. (The Consequences)

It IS as it is – and so it SHOULD BE.
The stele will now indeed be destroyed!
But by no means it is really gone yet...
FIRST, there are still the remains,
whether wood splinters or fragments or ash...
We have demanded the handover of these remains from the police!

From the perspective of the artwork,
they are not garbage,
but the artistically
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARTWORK
"Article 20 GG in Gold on Beech"
THROUGH THE STATE
brought into the image
and endowed with highest expressive power.
We wrote to the police:
"The remains are part of the overall artistic work and document the execution of the destruction of its own ideals by the state.
They are intended for – instead of the stele –
with documentation about the entire artwork
in a cultural house in Basel – and I add:
also at other places – to be exhibited."

We are curious about the reaction of the authorities.
SECOND, in the Bundestag it has long been and repeatedly submitted the application to complement the stele Article 20 in Gold on Beech with a stele Article 1 in Platinum on Cherry Wood and to erect both in the plenary hall of the Bundestag, so that in the future the whole happening in the Bundestag in the force field of these two articles can unfold.
THIRD, in the Bundestag it has long been and repeatedly submitted the application here for this place, at Dani Karavan's artwork, on the footpath of the promenade a GLASS COLUMN with the centrally floating engraved Article 20 to erect.
I read from the application:
"Five to ten meters after the end of the row of steles we would like to erect – centrally, directly on the further footpath to the Bundestag – a glass column with Article 20. In the middle of the footpath therefore, so that it works "offensive" and one cannot pass by without noticing it, just like at Dani Karavan's steles (but also at the human rights). This column should have the same width and height as Dani Karavan's steles (1.60 meters times 3.00 meters) – but with 1.60 meters also the same depth.
In the middle of the glass column the text of Article 20 should be floating engraved. From the front, the column should be completely transparent, so that one can freely float in it the principles of state structure, but behind that also directly the Bundestag, as the place that is committed to these principles, can be seen.
From the side the column should also be transparent, so that one can completely see the engraved text transform and examine it from all sides. However, from the side everyone should also see that the column is not cast in one piece, but composed of 19 vertically standing glasses respectively fused together. For this purpose the seams between the assembled glasses from bottom to about 1 meter height (1/3 of the height of the steles) should still be visible as finest vertical lines.
Above, the rest of the surface is smooth like on the front side. On each of these thus made visible individual glasses is the name of the corresponding article ("Article 1", "Article 2", "Article 3" up to "Article 19") engraved, so that it comes into the image that the column as a whole consists of a composition of the glass steles Dani Karavan, or: that the substance of the thus represented state structure consists of the human rights unfolded by Dani Karavan at the Reichstag bank.
From the front one sees the text of the state structure freely floating in the column and behind one can see the Bundestag, for which the state structure contains the binding principles. From the side one sees that the state structure consists of the 19, already unfolded by Dani Karavan, human rights articles lifted and that the substance of the state structure is the human rights.
From the back one sees through the mirror-image the appearing text into the world (that is here the panorama of Berlin with the Spree and the Friedrichstraße station), which through observance of the principles of state structure receives its liberal character."
How the Bundestag has answered these applications so far is more than embarrassing for the state among other things in our constitutional complaint is documented on our homepage (https://deine-verfassung.de/akt13/BVerfG.pdf, there page 15 ff).
But in these reactions it also shows the end of this form of government in its entire distance from the constitution.

... and FOURTH...

on May 23, 2026, that is on the 77th birthday of the Basic Law, which fortunately falls on a Saturday again, we are going to begin the work here at this place on the stele Article 1 in Platinum in Cherry Wood intended for the plenary hall of the Bundestag to carve, which you are all cordially invited to carve along with us...
So that from the destruction of Article 20 – like the phoenix from the ashes – an impulse for the renewal of the Federal Republic according to its own ideals becomes.

I now ask the representatives of the artwork standing here
to begin with the "tones" determined for the farewell of the stele
and ask the guests to gradually join in this sounding...
Because in the spiritual sphere, the world sounds.
and the spiritual beings, that are connected with the impulse presented here,
and whose support we now also want to ask for, can hear themselves better this way...

P.S.: On March 21, 2026, the stele had not yet been destroyed. The police was not willing to hand over the remains of the stele, which is why we filed a lawsuit in the administrative court, which delayed the destruction.
In the urn, instead of ash, were wood chips, which at the beginning of the action, at the first carving on May 23, 2018 at Rosa-Luxemburg Platz in Berlin had been fallen off, collected and preserved.

Finally, we are providing links here to a few examples of how the state has been eroding our fundamental rights in recent years — from the right to freedom of expression to the right to physical integrity, and even the right to mere survival.