During my stay in Berlin, the Holocaust Memorial would have to rank as one of the more humbling experiences. It was fascinating that the evidence of the Holocaust had slowly been erased in Berlin, unlike the fall of the Berlin Wall where remnants had remained. That however, changed when I saw the Memorial, which I had already know about from during my architecture classes. The architect Peter Eisenmann intended to break away from the traditional nostalgia of a monument but had instead, unwittingly or wittingly - that I am not sure about - created a monument where the stelae appear to be graves of 2711 fallen Jews.
As the land on the site, purposely forms a trough against the peaking blocks, the sense of unease is difficult to escape from, especially more so you start to notice the wavering blocks, many a time leaning in to rob you of the space above. The rain and the clouds only accentuated the damp, depressing and humbling experience.
