Bremen – Nelson Mandela Park

Bremen does suffer a little from graffiti, but it’d have been nice if they could have cleaned up this sign….. It was given the name Nelson Mandela Park in 2014, with the area not having a name before then. It’s the area of former common land which connects the railway station to Burgerpark.

This elephant was constructed in 1932 and was originally called the colonial monument, but was renamed the anti-colonial monument in 1989. I’m not sure if these name changes achieve much, but the important thing is that the structure is still there and there’s signage explaining a little about the background of its history.

Another graffiti ridden sign.

These red sandstones are here to commemorate the genocide of the Herero and Nama. This seems a more positive solution to dealing with the problems of colonialism, which is by placing something which invites further investigation. It comes from the rebellions suppressed by the Germans in what was then German South West Africa, but is now part of South Africa.