Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
ARCHITECT: PETER EISENMAN; IMAGE: ALLAN BAXTER/GETTY IMAGES ©
It took 17 years of discussion, planning and construction, but on 10 May 2005 the Denkmal
für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) was offi-
cially dedicated. Colloquially known as Holocaust Memorial, it's Germany's central me-
morial to the Nazi-planned genocide during the Third Reich. For the football-field-size
space, New York architect Peter Eisenman created 2711 sarcophagi-like concrete stelae
(slabs) of equal size but various heights, rising in sombre silence from undulating ground.
You're free to access this massive concrete maze at any point and make your individual
journey through it. At first it may seem austere, even unemotional. But take time to feel the
coolness of the stone and contemplate the interplay of light and shadow, then stumble aim-
lessly among the narrow passageways, and you'll soon connect with a metaphorical sense of
disorientation, confusion and claustrophobia. Guided tours run at 3pm on Saturday in Eng-
lish and at 3pm on Sunday in German.
