May 12, 2006

That's nice.

Berlin Holocaust memorial draws millions

Estimated 3.5 million people visit Berlin site in its first year, one of city's most popular tourist attractions

German authorities said this week that 3.5 milliion people visited Berlin's Holocaust memorial, making it one of the German capital's most popular tourist sites.

"It has become a tourist magnet," Uwe Neumaerker, director of the foundation that oversees the memorial, told reporters. The site was designed by US architect Peter Eisenman and opened one year ago after 17 years of debate and controversy. The memorial uses a haunting, abstract design to preserve the memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of Nazi terror.

Situated on a vast plot of land between the Brandenburg Gate and the remains of Adolf Hitler's bunker in central Berlin, it consists of 2,711 grey gravestone-like slabs of varying height that form a tight grid pattern through which visitors wander.

Me: You know what would have been even nicer? Not killing 6,000,000 Jews.

2 comments:

yaak said...

Good point.

Also, see this from last year.

Anonymous said...

It would be more interesting to find out the ages of the visitors and how many were 60ish and older?

I would imagine the young ones are curious and stunned, and the older ones are assuaging some guilt.