They were hundreds of students from nine European countries. On August 6, 1950, only five years after the end of the Second World War, when the Germans and the French were still enemies, they peacefully stormed the strictly controlled Franco-German border at Weiler-St. Germanshof. The customs officers could only watch powerlessly as the young people on both sides lifted the barriers off their hinges and ignited a European fire. But the students' will to unite was not only expressed in this symbolic act. They also manifested their ideas of a united Europe in three concrete demands, which they formulated on the eve of a meeting of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg: A European parliament, a European constitution and a European passport - these were their, even from today's point of view, ambitious goals. To ensure that this revolutionary act is not forgotten, the Aktionsgemeinschaft Bobenthal-St.Germanshof e.V. together with the cross-border association REGIO PAMINA has erected a European monument at the former border crossing St. Germanshof. Twelve sandstone stelae arranged in a circle, supplemented by three flagpoles on which the German, French and European flags fly, as well as a trilingual information board, establish a place of remembrance.
