Grave of Marinus van der Lubbe

The arson attack on the Reichstag building on Feb. 27, 1933, played a pivotal role in the Nazi rise to power. Newly appointed Chancellor Adolf Hitler seized on the fire as an opportunity to suspend civil rights, persecute opponents, and dissolve parliament, paving the way to totalitarian rule and ultimately, World War II and the Holocaust.

Who started the fire, and why, has been the subject of debate ever since. For the Nazis, though, it was an open-and-shut case. A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was found in the Reichstag during the blaze. He was quickly arrested, tried, convicted, and executed. His beheading by guillotine took place Jan. 10, 1934, in Leipzig, and he was buried anonymously in a grave at the Südfriedhof, or "south cemetery".

Historians remain divided on the role van der Lubbe played. Was he actually responsible for the arson, or merely used by the Nazis as a scapegoat?

After the war, van der Lubbe's brother attempted to have his conviction overturned. It was only after decades of legal proceedings that, in 2007, Germany's federal prosecutor general nullified the verdict and posthumously pardoned him.

Witnesses at van der Lubbe's trial reported that he made an apathetic, confused, and sleepy appearance during the court proceedings, fueling theories that the Nazis had drugged him. In 2023, to put the rumors to rest and to confirm the grave's occupant, van der Lubbe's body was exhumed. Scientists verified his identity but found no conclusive proof of whether he had been drugged.

After the forensic investigation, van der Lubbe was reburied and given a marked grave. His memorial stone bears three dates: his birth, the day of the Reichstag fire, and his death, along with lines from a poem he wrote in prison, Schönheit, Schönheit (“Beauty, Beauty”).