A Walk on the Resistance Side in Munich
There is a narrow cobblestone street in Munich where you can see a striking feature on the ground that tells a tale of the German resistance in the 1930s.
Viscardigasse, more commonly known as Drückebergergasse or “Shirkers’ Alley,” is a pedestrian-only street located in the heart of Munich where people can see a distinct pathway of bronze cobblestones. This was made to honor the Mücheners who refused to show their support for the Nazi regime by walking down this alleyway to evade the mandatory Sieg Heil salute.
Leading up to these everyday acts of resistance was the ascent of Adolf Hitler. Influenced by the 1922 March on Rome insurrection led by Benito Mussolini, and aided by the hyperinflation that threw Germany into turmoil, a then 33-year-old Hitler planned a coup in Munich the following year to overthrow the democratic government, the Weimar Republic. Hitler and the Nazi Party rushed a mass meeting attended by around 3,000 people at the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall, but their efforts failed and culminated in a deadly end in front of the Feldherrnhalle monumental loggia in Odeonsplatz.
Hitler’s Munich coup attempt, now referred to as the Beer Hall Putsch, led to his arrest for high treason and a subsequent trial in 1924, which allowed him the platform to speak about his extremist views to the German public over a 24-day period. Instantly, he was seen by many as a national hero. Despite a guilty verdict and a sentencing of five years in prison, the court let Hitler out after serving just nine months and also declined to deport him back to his native Austria. While in the confines of his cell, Hitler went on to write his political manifesto, Mein Kampf, later stating that the work would not exist if not for his imprisonment.
Several years later, as the Great Depression commenced, Hitler and the Nazi Party calculated that in order to crush the German democracy from within and gain power they would need to go through the legal channels of the electoral process rather than stage another insurgency. By 1930, the Nazis were the second largest political party in Germany, and by 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor by German President Paul von Hindenburg. From this position, Hitler began to infiltrate the country’s political system, using the established laws to strip away many freedoms—speech and press included. The next year, Hindenburg died and Hitler appointed himself the “Führer.”
And from there…well, you likely know what happened from there.
In one of his first acts as leader, Hitler declared Feldherrnhalle a national landmark and ordered a large memorial to be created on its east side to commemorate the deaths of those who died during the Beer Hall Putsch. He required all passersby of the memorial to perform the Nazi salute to officers stationed there. Failure to do so could result in a range of punishments.
Over time, brave Müncheners began shirking this route by taking an alternate path on the nearby Viscardigasse that ran parallel to Feldherrnhalle, and then turning right toward Odeonsplatz. Their acts of everyday resistance were vital in the totality of challenging the fascist power structures at play, eventually lending a pivotal role in toppling this system intent on separating neighbor from neighbor.
To honor those that took these walks of resistance, Munich artist Bruno Wank created a permanent installation of bronze cobblestones, titled “Argumente,” on Viscardigasse in 1995 that visitors can walk along.
Viscardigasse, 80333 München, Germany