Ehrenbreitstein was chosen for many reasons such as the new III Corps being based in the city and its proximity to the Army's command staff in Bonn.

[1] The memorial was designed by sculptor Hans Wimmer to be simple but to invite thought and to remind subsequent generations of the suffering of their predecessors.

Completed in 1972 the memorial was handed over to the German Army in a ceremony attended by Minister of Defense Georg Leber and Admiral Armin Zimmermann then the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr.

[2] Since its inauguration a memorial service has been held ever year at the site on Volkstrauertag usually attended by an army honor guard, high ranking Bundeswehr officers and German government officials.

In 2006 a stele was erected near the main monument commemorating Bundeswehr soldiers who died in the line of duty.