A number of sites have been set up to commemorate the victims of the tragedy of 24 March 2015. These sites are important elements of the culture of commemoration surrounding the tragedy, and constitute a commitment to the family members that the memory of the victims will be properly preserved.
The communal grave at the public cemetery in Le Vernet is a main mourning site for many family members. A memorial plaque, bearing the inscription “In Memoriam”, was installed here by the French Ministry of the Interior to commemorate the tragedy. On the first anniversary of the crash, at the request of many family members, an additional panel of black granite listing the names of all the victims was added to the original plaque.
In early summer 2015, a stele was installed in Le Vernet to commemorate the victims of the crash. A circle of arbor vitae (“tree of life”) evergreens has been planted around the stele. Flowers can be laid at this site to commemorate the victims.
The ill-fated Flight 4U9525 departed from Barcelona. The Spanish victims’ association arranged for a memorial plaque to be installed in front of the airport terminal. This plaque was installed in a ceremony commemorating the victims on 23 March 2016, in the presence of family members, first responders and local politicians.
At Flight 4U9525’s destination airport in Düsseldorf, a memorial plaque to the victims of the tragedy was installed on 23 March 2016 in the presence of family members. The plaque can be found in the nondenominational meditation room in the public area of the airport. A plaque commemorating the 17 victims of the airport fire in 1996 can also be found there.
In front of the Germanwings head office near the Cologne-Bonn airport, there is a plaque commemorating the crew members and passengers who perished in the crash of Flight 4U9525. The plaque was unveiled on 30 September 2015 in the presence of four hundred Germanwings staff members and the crew’s family members.
The residents of Prads, the municipality where the crash site is located, arranged for a local artist to install a sculpture along the recently built circular hiking trail known as the “Chemin de l’instituteur”, which runs from Saume Longe to Pié Fourcha. The sculpture, which was installed in the summer of 2015, consists of 149 iron poles stretching up to the sky.