Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, situated in Mitte, is Berlin’s spectacular monument to the Holocaust, a tribute to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide of World War II. It is located near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin.
In the year 1999, after a series of debates, the German Parliament decided to create a central memorial site called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Though there were several bidders, the project was awarded to the New York architect, Peter Eisenman. The memorial was open to the public in 2005.
The Berlin Holocaust Memorial sprawls across 19,000 meters and consists of 2711 concrete slabs of unequal heights. You can visit the memorial at any time of the day or night. As you walk through the slabs, you will be immersed in the melancholic yet overwhelming feel of the place. The memorial is situated on a slight slope and the concrete floor is uneven. The idea of the monument is to present an unsteady, slightly disoriented environment when you are within the memorial, representing a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human emotions. Once the slabs were in place, the cobblestone paths were built.
The Memorial is a short distance away from a nondescript Hitler’s bunker. The concrete slabs bear no markings, there are no dates or names mentioned on the slabs. The slabs move in a wave-like pattern, unique in shape and size. It is a five-sided monolith, some tower above the visitors, some are only anke high. Bear in mind that the jews were not buried underneath, it is not a cemetery, it is a just a memorial.
The concrete blocks offer no detail or reference to the Holocaust. Since there are no inscriptions, no markings, no names, critics state there is no reference to the Holocaust movement. But there is no denying that the memorial holds forte as one of the most visited landmarks in Berlin. The cost of construction was an estimated €25 million.
The Holocaust Memorial is free for visitors. You can also visit it as a part of a guided tour, which will take you the Holocaust Memorial as well as other places around the area like the Brandenburg Gate. In the months April to September, it is opened from 10 AM to 8PM while in the months to October, the Holocaust Memorial is open from 10 AM to 7 PM
Berlin Holocaust Memorial – Pictures
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