A memorial plaque placed at a site in the Wendenschloss quarter of Berlin on Niebergall Street recalls a historic event. Here stood a villa called the Waldgaststätte (forest inn) where on 5 June 1945 the commanders-in-chief of the four victorious powers signed the Berlin Declaration referring to future dealings with occupied Germany.

A monument placed at this site in the Wendenschloss quarter of Berlin-Köpenick on Niebergall Street 20 reads in German “On 5 June 1945, here in the former headquarters of Marshal G. K. Zhukov, the representatives of the High Commands of the Anti-Hitler Coalition signed the Declaration of the defeat of Fascist Germany and the assumption of governmental authority by the four Allied states.”

The meeting on 5 June was hosted by the Soviet forces in Berlin, who had captured the capital of the German Reich in early May after a few weeks of intense fighting. The Allied commanders endorsed the declaration at 18:00 hours, by signing, on behalf of their governments, three documents regarding future dealings with vanquished and occupied Germany. The signatories were: General Dwight Eisenhower, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.

Wendenschloss is a neighborhood 3,5 km south of the old town of Köpenick, on the shore of the lake Langer See. In spite of the name – Schloss means castle– there was never any castle here. The forest area was used as a hunting ground, and, since the end of the 19th century, as a recreational area. During this period, the Waldgaststätte (forest inn) Wendenschloss was built; it was renamed the ‘friendship inn’ under the East German regime, and later torn down. Today, a memorial plaque recalls the historic event.