Berlin

Signs of evil times: Berlin's devastating Jewish memorial

The brightly coloured signs in and around Schöneberg's Bayerischer Platz constitute what's arguably Berlin's most harrowing Jewish memorial - a hard-hitting, heart-breaking insight into regulations which systematically deprived Jews (and other 'non-aryans'), of their jobs, rights and, eventually, lives.

Created in 1993 by Berlin-based artists Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock, the controversial public art installation (named Orte des Erinnerns, or Places of Remembrance) consists of 80 placards printed with simple graphics and a short summary of some of the Nazis' most disturbing anti-Semitic legislation.

The monument's location is particularly apt. As a former Jewish neighbourhood, the 'Bavarian quarter' was once home to artists and intellectuals such as Billy Wilder and Albert Einstein, but eventually became an unofficial ghetto where many of Berlin's Jews were forcibly confined before deportation.

'Baths and swimming pools in Berlin are closed to Jews'.

'The time has come. Tomorrow I must leave, and naturally it is a heavy burden... I will write to you'

Yet despite the installation's relevance as an acutely sombre lesson in history, it remains unknown to many Berlin visitors - almost certainly because the texts themselves are in German.

To remedy this, we're including a link to Stih and Schnock's website, with enlargeable maps showing the location of each placard and English translations.

Because, quite simply, a memorial this important needs to be understood.

See also:
The 'Jewish houses' of Duisburgerstrasse
A former Jewish orphanage
Schöneberg's hidden highlights

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