Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in the middle of Berlin is the central Holocaust memorial in Germany. It is a place of remembrance and commemoration of the up to six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It was officially opened on May 10, 2005. The memorial consists of the field of stelae designed by Peter Eisenman and the underground information center.

The exhibition in the Information Center documents the persecution and extermination of the Jews of Europe. It also commemorates he historical sites of the crimes. It is visited by almost half a million guests every year. In the words of the architect Peter Eisenman:

“the monument tries to develop a new idea of ​​memory that is clearly different from nostalgia. We propose that the time of the monument, its duration is different from the time of human experience and understanding. The traditional monument is understood through its symbolic imagery, through what it represents. Such a monument is not understood over time, but directly in space; it is seen and understood at the same time. Even in traditional architecture, such as in labyrinths and mazes, there is a space-time continuum between experience and knowledge: the goal is to find your way in and out.

In our monument there is no destination, no end, no way in or out. The time of the individual’s experience grants no further understanding, for understanding is not possible. The time of the monument, its duration from its upper to its lower end, is separate from the time of its experience. In this context there is no nostalgia, no memory of the past, just the living memory of individual experience. Today we can only understand the past through its manifestation in the present.”

Today the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is considered one of the most significant monuments in the German capital.