Orte der Erinnerung 1933 - 1945

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

After many years of debate, the German Parliament finally decided to build the “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” on June 25, 1999. The memorial was built from April 2003 to May 2005 following New York architect Peter Eisenman’s designs, modified by the addition of an underground Information Centre (German: Ort der Information). It is located right in the middle of Berlin, in close proximity to the Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag building.

The memorial designed by Eisenman, made up of 2,711 concrete slabs, or “stelae”, of varying heights, is an illustration of the critical analysis surrounding the conventional concept of memorials; it attempts to “develop a new idea of remembrance”. As Eisenman says, amidst the Field of Stelae there is “no goal, no end, no way in or out”.

The underground Information Centre is designed to be an informational supplement to the abstract form of remembrance conveyed by the memorial. Four rooms, arranged thematically, provide information about the victims to be honoured and the historical memorial spaces. In order to personalise the remembrance, exemplary histories of families destroyed due to the Holocaust are displayed, amongst other things; in the Room of Names, there are also the readings of short biographies of those Jews who were murdered or presumed dead.

In its decision, the Parliament said that Germany wants to honour the six million Jews who were murdered by the National Socialists with this memorial, while also keeping the memory of an unimaginable part of German history alive.

Individual visitors can take part in a public tour or discover the Information Centre through the use of an audio guide. Visiting groups can book more detailed tours or workshops with visitor services.

Address and Hours of Operation

Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe)
Cora-Berliner-Straße 1
10117 Berlin 

Tel.: +49-30-26 39 43 36 (Visitor Service)
E-Mail: besucherservice(at)stiftung-denkmal.de
Internet: www.stiftung-denkmal.de/en
 

Hours of Operation:
The Field of Stelae: open 24 hours, daily

Information Centre: April to September Tues-Sun 10-8pm (last entry 7:15pm). October to March Tues-Sun 10-7pm (last entry 6:15pm). Closed: January 1st and December 24th to 26th and December 31st.

Free Entry

Buses 100, 123, 148, 200, M 41, TXL
S-Bahn (rapid transit system): S1, S2 or S26 to Unter den Linden or Potsdamer Platz
U-Bahn (subway): U2 to Potsdamer Platz or Mohrenstraße