travel wonders
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Controversy of the Jewish Memorial in Berlin
It is year 1999. Competition is announced for the new Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.
Competition was won by famous New York architect Peter Eisenman. Prestigious location was chosen very close to the former Berlin Wall line. It was actually, just between iconic Brandenburg Gate, and former Hitler’s bunker.
Eisenman’s design represents brilliant, high modernism style memorial. 2711 greyish concrete slabs of different heights are set in rows to form numerous corridors. You can easily walk through, while taller or shorter blocks are around you.
Wavy walking surface takes you slowly up and down, so each visitor creates unique feeling in this symbolic maze of paths. Feelings of fear, lack of space, uncertainty and weakness are dominant, while searching for a light at the end of a tunnel, or a corridor in this case.
shrine of forgivingness and reconciliation
Who could expect that, in one moment, Degussa Chemical Company from Dusseldorf will be employed for this project. It was responsible for part of the foundations, and for applying specific chemical layer over concrete slabs, to protect memorial from graffiti. Irony was that during Third Reich and WWII, German chemical giant IG Farben, had Degussa Company as one of its units. Back then, Degussa was responsible for production of Zyklon B gas, used in gas chambers of Nazi concentration camps.
Public reaction was immediate, debate started, and project was briefly halted. At the end, nothing was changed, since Germans know how to face their dark WWII past. Many companies who worked directly with Nazi regime exist today as well. In this particular case, the entire Germany was united in participating in Jewish Memorial project, and all companies employed contributed in the best way. Above all, architect Peter Eisenman hit the essence, claiming how this memorial should stand as a shrine of forgivingness and reconciliation.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin truly reminds never to forget, but also to forgive and reconcile, for the sake of eternal peace and future generations.
