The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe: the Field of Stelae and the Information Centre

Two parts, one memorial

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, in the middle of Berlin at Cora-Berliner-Straße 1, is described by the foundation that runs it as "Germany's central Holocaust memorial, a place of remembrance and commemoration for the up to six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust". It was officially opened on 10 May 2005 and consists of two parts: the Field of Stelae designed by Peter Eisenman, above ground, and the underground Information Centre (Ort der Information) with its exhibition. The foundation says admission is free and that the Field of Stelae is accessible 24 hours a day, while the Information Centre has its own opening hours and is closed on Mondays apart from listed exceptions.[1]

The two parts answer different needs. The foundation's group-tour page calls the field "the abstract artwork" and encourages tour participants to interpret it, while the exhibition beneath it documents the persecution and murder and the sites of the crimes.[1][3] That division was set at the start. The foundation's chronology records that when the German Bundestag decided on 25 June 1999 to build the memorial to Eisenman's design, the Field of Stelae was "to be supplemented by an Information Centre about the victims to be honoured and the authentic sites of remembrance", and a foundation was set up to carry out the decision.[1]

The Field of Stelae

The foundation's facts and figures give a field of 19,073 square metres with 2,710 concrete stelae, each 0.95 metres wide and 2.38 metres long, between 0 and 4.7 metres high and inclined by 0.5 to 2 degrees. The stelae stand on a gently but irregularly lowered site that can be entered from all four sides and is perceived differently from each place in it, in the foundation's description.[1]

The count is not quite consistent on the foundation's own page. Its facts list says 2,710 stelae, but the height bands it gives (811, 916 and 872 stelae, plus 112 at ground level) add up to 2,711, and its chronology speaks of "half of the 2,711 steles" at the topping-out ceremony in July 2004.[1] XTOUR uses the facts-list figure and notes the difference.

The page carries the architect's own statement. Peter Eisenman writes that "the extent and scale of the Holocaust inevitably make any attempt to represent it by traditional means a hopeless undertaking", and that "the memory of the Holocaust can never be nostalgia". The foundation gives the total construction cost as 27.6 million euros in federal funds.[1]

The Information Centre

The exhibition beneath the field, according to the foundation, documents the persecution and extermination of the Jews of Europe and the historical sites of the crimes. The foundation's photographs name its rooms: the Room of Dimensions, the Room of Families, the Room of Names and the Room of Sites.[1]

What the foundation's FAQ says about visiting it:

• Entrance is free; donations go to the upkeep of the Information Centre.[1]
• Everyone passes through a security check at the entrance, and bags larger than conventional hand luggage, about 55 by 40 by 20 centimetres, cannot be carried or stored; the FAQ also says suitcases and small bags may not be taken into the exhibition, and that the Information Centre has a free cloakroom.[1]
• The foundation recommends about one hour for the exhibition, or about 90 minutes with an audio guide, plus any waiting time at the entrance.[1]
• Exhibition texts are in German and English. Audio guides cover a curatorial tour in German, English and Dutch, and translations of the texts into French, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.[4][1]

How a visit to both parts fits together

The foundation's own offers show how it expects the two parts to be used. Its group tour takes place in the Field of Stelae and "ends with an accelerated entrance to the exhibition", which visitors then see on their own.[3][2] The house rules of the Information Centre state that "there are no guided tours through the exhibition", and the FAQ asks external tour guides and teachers not to conduct tours inside it; the foundation's visitor consultants answer questions there instead. The same page also lists guided offers of the foundation's own: a free public guided tour in English and one in German on set Sundays each month, without saying whether they enter the exhibition, and a guided tour of the exhibition in Easy Language for visitors with cognitive impairments, booked in advance.[1] XTOUR's reading is that outside guides work above ground, and that the only guided visit of the exhibition the page names is the foundation's own.

The foundation's visitor rules

The foundation publishes two sets of rules, one for each part.[1]

Field of Stelae. The visitor regulations say a visit is at your own risk all year round, that the field may only be crossed on foot and slowly, and that the following are not permitted: making noise, jumping from stele to stele, bringing dogs or other pets, bringing bicycles, smoking and drinking alcohol. They add that political demonstrations, flags or other symbols "disturb the memory", as do begging and any sporting activity, and that commercial photography and filming need the foundation's written consent.[1]

Information Centre. The house rules say entry is only through the security lock, loud conversation and conspicuous behaviour are not welcome, mobile phones and other devices should be switched off, dogs are not allowed except assistance dogs, photography and filming are allowed for private purposes without flash, smoking is prohibited, and eating, drinking alcohol and carrying glass bottles are not permitted. The memorial page itself puts it more simply: "We ask for appropriate behavior in the exhibition."[1]

How the memorial came about

The foundation's chronology begins in August 1988, when the journalist Lea Rosh proposed a memorial; in January 1989 she and the historian Eberhard Jäckel published the first call of the citizens' initiative "Perspektive Berlin". An open competition in 1995 drew 528 entries and ended in crisis; a second, invited procedure in 1997 produced the design by Peter Eisenman and Richard Serra that emerged as the favourite in early 1998, and after Serra withdrew that summer, Eisenman's revised design was the one the Bundestag chose in June 1999. Symbolic construction began on 27 January 2000, building work in April 2003, and the memorial was handed over to the public on 12 May 2005, two days after its opening.[1]

The foundation's other memorials

The same federal foundation looks after four other memorials, which its home page lists as the Memorial to the Persecuted Homosexuals under National Socialism, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism, the Memorial and information site for the victims of the National Socialist "euthanasia" murders, and the Memorial to Jehovah's Witnesses persecuted and murdered under National Socialism, whose construction it reports as begun.[2] XTOUR has not read the foundation's pages for these four and does not describe them here.

What XTOUR does not state

XTOUR does not publish opening hours, waiting times or accessibility details as its own; the foundation's page carries them and should be checked before a visit. For the rules other German memorial sites publish, see memorial site conduct in Germany. Other Berlin pages on XTOUR: the Berlin Wall Foundation's sites, Museum Island and Berlin.