From the end of 1942 there were connections between opponents of the regime in Hamburg and the resistance group "The White Rose". The group had come together at Munich University, and the Munich "White Rose" included Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell and the siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl. From the summer of 1942 they denounced National Socialist crimes with leaflets. The young students called for passive resistance against the continuation of the war.
Hamburg branch of the "White Rose" In Hamburg, resistance groups were also formed that sympathized with the “White Rose”: one group, made up of former students from the Lichtwark School, met secretly to read outlawed literature and listen to foreign radio stations. The center of the second group was the Leipelt family in Wilhelmsburg. The link between the two groups was Reinhold Meyer's bookshop at Jungfernstieg 50. A commemorative plaque from the plaque program of the monument protection office commemorates this meeting point of resistance against the Nazis in Hamburg. In the fall of 1943, the Gestapo managed to uncover the resistance group with the help of spies. A total of 30 members were arrested by March 1944. Hans Leipelt was sentenced to death by the People's Court and executed on January 29, 1945. Seven other members of the resistance group died in prison or were executed in Neuengamme concentration camp in April 1945. After 1945 the groups were named the "Hamburg Branch of the White Rose".
Remembering the "White Rose" in Hamburg In 1977 the pedestrian zone in Volksdorf was named after the "White Rose" and a memorial was erected to commemorate the student resistance. It was based on a decision by the Walddörfer local committee. At the time, the naming of the street provoked vehement protests from residents and, in particular, business owners. In October 2006, the memorial had to be temporarily removed as part of construction work. Protests broke out again, but they now demanded that the building be rebuilt as soon as possible. On May 25, 2007, the memorial was re-erected at a new, more central location in the "White Rose" pedestrian zone.