Wednesday Walk Challenge : Getting lost among 2711 gray, concrete blocks

In the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany, you will find 2711 concrete blocks lined up in a row. They are of different sizes. The feeling of walking in corridors of completely naked, gray concrete makes you feel quite lost. That is possibly also the purpose of The Holocaust Memoriel which was erected as a memorial to the Jews who became victims of Holocaust carried out by the Nazi Germany. This place is known as The Holocaust Memorial or Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas in Germany.

The memorial is close to Brandenburger Tor and Reichtag, which are probably among the top 10 sight in the Berlin. I was in Berlin with a friend. We only had a few days in the city, but we chose to spend the first day walking around the inner city making Brandenburger Tor our first stop. Just a few minuttes more of walking we came to the memorial. The whole place reminded me of a cemetery with all the concrete blocks or «boxes». The shape and lack of colors, did make us think of coffins.

This monument was designed by Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold. The building process started in 2003 and was finished in 2004. But it was first inagurated on 10th of May 2005. This day marked that is was 60 years since WWII. I first thought that the number 2711 has to have some important meaning, but couldn't come up with any suggestion. Later I read that Eisenman has said that it has no significanse or any meaning.

How did we understand this memoriel?

I wish I had a photo taken with a drone. Then you would get an idea of the place in pure gray. A photo taken from one of the corners might give a slight idea, but covers only a fraction.The area covers in total 1,9 hectare. The concrete blocks vary in size. In the outskirts they are low but they grow taller as we walked the slopes downwards. In the deepest corridor they are more than two meters in hight. That made us feel small. When we walked upwards again, they become smaller. I have read that to some people it might by a symbol of the rise and fall of the Third Reich. This was the regime who allowed the Holocaust.

These blocks are placed in a grid pattern with slopes that run down and up again. It feels in many ways like a labyrinth because of the grid pattern and the narrow alleys. The sun didn't seem to reach the bottom down here. That gave the whole place a sinister, dark feeling. I think that might be the intention....As we reached the edge and the exit at the oposite end, sun beams found their way between the lower boxes, changing the atmospere. The shape of the boxes and lack of colors made me think of the Jews in the concentration camps. They all lost their idendity, dressed in uniforms that striped them from everything personal.

We did get a feeling of being lost when standing deep down in a corridor among these tall blocks of concrete. It was not possible to hear the noice from the trafic. We could not see the city either. Except for the small glimse when looking to the end of a corridor. Eisenman wated the place to give us a confusing experiece. It certainly did do just that! An amazing place.

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Latest wedensday walk, check out:
Wednesday Walk Challenge : Walk with giant tortoises on the island of Rodriques

U.J

Kristiansand, Norway

All the photoes are mine, Ulla Jensen (flickr, Instagram and facebook)

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