Image: Framed by two angel wings, the Garden of Freedom surrounds the 26-meter large Friedensmal in its center, symbolizing the inner journey. At the border of the garden to the European long-distance hiking trail No. 8 (the path through the world), there is the Stone of Encounter with the inscription "Yerushalayim" on the "Side of Hope." On its other side, the suffering of the past and present is addressed. Below it, a slate stone in the ground with the inscription "Where Dust Turns to Light" points towards the Friedensmal. On the entrance step of the Friedensmal, it reads: 'Recognize the Sacred in Your Midst.' As you walk around the circle of the Friedensmal, you always end up at the same point. You keep turning around yourself until you pause and step into the center, into the Tree of Life. There, in the center, you find the inscription "Chai," which is Hebrew and means "alive".

For a Culture of Freedom

Introduction

Freedom and Boundaries

What the word Freedom means

Eleven large stones in the Dark Ring of the Friedensmal symbolize the blockages and entanglements that stand between a person and their freedom on their life's journey to self. Those who are not free are identified with their entanglements, thereby contributing to the world being as it is today. The liberation from these entanglements is symbolized in the Friedensmal by the central element of the Tree of Life. (The roots of the 'Tree of Life' are in the earth and its branches in the sky. It thus connects heaven and earth, spirit and matter. This represents the enlightened human being in whose nature liberation towards life takes place.) Society, too, is trapped in its entanglements and must confront them.

"To be free is condemned to be free." (Sartre)

'Yerushalayim - a call full of love for freedom for mankind. That we recognize the fences in our interactions and not seek our life in the past' - is the full inscription on the Stone of Encounter. It is a call of longing for freedom and peace, and for a respectful interaction among people. It means not being stuck in an ideology of boundlessness, where protected spaces that provide freedom dissolve. Boundaries are perceived and respected. Thus, we can come closer to each other in a feeling of security and good interaction. We overcome fences, without tearing them down.

There are many memorials, but this peace and freedom site in the Geopark Bergstraße-Odenwald is a next step towards peace, leading to healing. The monument is built along the hiking trail in nature, for life too can be seen as a journey, and one must embark on the inner path for peace and freedom. They are not found in the noise and importance of the world, but in inner peace and one's own mental clarity. But this has an effect on the world. Societies, like individuals, are always changing. The Friedensmal in the Garden of Freedom is a reminder, but also an encouragement and sign for positive change towards freedom and light; towards life.

Significant steps in understanding often occur in silence. For a monument with some aspiration, it does not always have to be the political capital, Berlin. Here, on the European long-distance hiking trail No. 8, one can find peace - beyond the terror of consumption and beyond the noise of the capital - to come into peace with oneself.

The Friedensmal is located in the Geopark Bergstraße-Odenwald, on the edge of the path. For peace, one must set out on the journey… The large memorial stones and natural stone slabs in the Friedensmal are made of Odenwald quartz. This comes from the Borstein mine in Reichenbach, only 1.7 km away (26 walking minutes). There are only two quarries left where this rock, characteristic of the Odenwald, is extracted.