Memorial commemorating the victims of the Munich 1972 attack to open
Twelve people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on the Israeli Olympic team during the Olympic Games Munich 1972. Exactly 45 years later, a memorial commemorating the victims is set to be unveiled on 6 September.
There have always been two modest memorials, a sculpture by the German artist Fritz Koenig and a plaque outside the apartment where the hostages were held; but the new memorial takes a completely different approach.
The exhibition area, covering around 500 square metres, is located beneath a mound of grass surrounded by lime trees. A triangular column in the centre of the memorial will display the biographical profiles and photos of each victim. A large LED screen will play a 27-minute loop of news footage broadcast during the tragic events of 1972.
Eleven members of the Israeli team and one German police officer were killed.
Their families will be in Munich’s Olympic Park for the inauguration of the memorial. The President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Horst Seehofer, and IOC President Thomas Bach will be among the guests attending the ceremony.
The Olympic Channel was broadcasting the inauguration of this memorial live from Munich.