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Berlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Article about: Located at Cora-Berliner-Straße, near the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe covers 19,000 square metres and features some 2,711 stelae - concrete bl

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    Default Berlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

    Located at Cora-Berliner-Straße, near the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe covers 19,000 square metres and features some 2,711 stelae - concrete blocks ranging in height from 20cm to 4.7m. Architect Professor Peter Eisenmann and his team consulted representatives from concrete production firms based in Berlin and Karlsruhe before going ahead with the enormous project. The blocks were subsequently produced using reinforced steel framework and are covered with a substance known as Protectosil, a product designed to withstand both the elements, and graffiti. The memorial was inaugurated sixty years after the end of WWII, on 10th May 2005, and opened to the public two days later. Pictured below are several views recently taken at the site.

    Carl
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture Berlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe   Berlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe  

    Berlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe  

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    Nothing quite like it in design or scope, but I can sense the reasoning behind the dimensions, the large scale that defies distraction forcing you to look...and the simple fact that it's justifiably ugly in view of the event it represents...
    cheers, Glenn

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    If I recall (and I may be wrong on this point) wasn't this built on the site of Gestapo HQ in Berlin??

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    Quote by sargetom View Post
    If I recall (and I may be wrong on this point) wasn't this built on the site of Gestapo HQ in Berlin??
    No, the former Gestapo HQ was located at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße - now known as Niederkirchnerstraße (named after Käthe Niederkirchner, a communist who resisted the Nazis during WWII). I shall be addressing that site with another thread when time permits.

    Carl

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    Despite what it represents, I have to admit, it is perhaps one of the ugliest monuments that I can recall seeing. It looks like something in the yard of a large power station or maybe a warehouse storage district. I would be quite tempted to say, that if I had relations lost (and I do) that were being remembered by these things that it would be almost insulting. And in the middle of a large city, the usage of the space might have been done better. A monument, in my opinion, should be something of magnificence. It should draw your eyes and make you read it's inscriptions and leave you with the memory of having done so for the rest of your life. This, I would not have approved financing.
    William

    "Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."

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    Your words echo those of many before you William. There are some who argue that the reported 25 million Euros was almost wasted on such a large project - not to mention the aesthetic factor...

    However, I believe that earlier, Glenn interpreted the vision perfectly with these words...("Nothing quite like it in design or scope, but I can sense the reasoning behind the dimensions, the large scale that defies distraction forcing you to look...and the simple fact that it's justifiably ugly in view of the event it represents...clearly capture exactly what the designer hoped for when the monument was planned.")

    Carl

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    Thanks Carl for bringing these images to the forum from your recent study in Berlin. This is most certainly a very unusual memorial, and one that is truly in the "eye of the beholder"! All I would add is that many "visions" that were despised at the time of concept, have ended up many years later as being works of genius.
    My own opinion is that as a piece of architecture I am not that keen, but as a memorial to the murdered people's of Europe, I will stand by it's intentions and power to "provoke" remembrance. Leon.

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    One thing it does...is garner attention...and for that, I, as many others, am grateful.

    Carl

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    Berlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeBerlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeBerlin - Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeI was just there. If the site causes maybe 5 % of the pleasure seekers in Berlin Mitte to reflect about the past, then the place achieves its purpose.

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    Quote by CARL88 View Post
    Your words echo those of many before you William. There are some who argue that the reported 25 million Euros was almost wasted on such a large project - not to mention the aesthetic factor...

    However, I believe that earlier, Glenn interpreted the vision perfectly with these words...("Nothing quite like it in design or scope, but I can sense the reasoning behind the dimensions, the large scale that defies distraction forcing you to look...and the simple fact that it's justifiably ugly in view of the event it represents...clearly capture exactly what the designer hoped for when the monument was planned.")

    Carl
    Well said. Thanks for your hard work with this site.

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