The Moment You Have Been Dreading

This is the moment you have been dreading, that's right, I am going to start talking about the places I'm visiting. Maybe its a little High School History Teacher. Fine, I accept that. But let's not be selfish people, it's not all about you. One day, I want to be able to look back at this and remember the historic points of interest not just the toilets. So bear with me, I will try not to be TOO self-indulgent.

((A note from the editor: just a little fact from the grammar police. “Bear with me,” the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. “Bare with me” would be an invitation to undress. The wrong kind of bear/bare--definitely a pet peeve.))

"The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe"

The Germans really do have a way with words. You have to hand it to them, its efficient. They don't prance around the subject with "political correctness" using words like victims, or Holocaust, or any other gentle(r) euphemism. They get right to it--murder.

As someone who has visited a lot of museums on the subject of the Holocaust (or Murdered Jews) I first feel the need to explain that I am not some kind of morbid murder junkie. Usually, I am coerced to visit these museums against my better judgment. And by better judgment I mean, the desire to not feel depressed for the days following the visit. But I really do enjoy museums and I suppose I've always had a fascination with Holocaust museums since that INFAMOUS trip to the Museum of Tolerance. (That's a story for another day)

The Memorial has two parts. The actually memorial, pictured above, and the museum/information center.

The memorial is located near the Brandenburg Gate. It was built between 2003 and 2005 according to a design by the architect Peter Eisenman. The design represents a radical approach to the traditional concept of a memorial, partly because he does not use any symbolism. The grid pattern, consisting of 2,711 concrete stelae, which can be walked through from all sides, leaves it up to visitors to find their own way in and out of the complex.

The underground information center, located directly below the memorial, was designed by Dagmar von Wilcken and provides information on the victims, places of extermination and today's memorial sites (throughout the world).

Warning: This is going to come out completely wrong, but...
This is not my favorite Holocaust museum. I know, you are thinking, how can you possibly have a "favorite" anything that involves information about murdering people. That's obviously not what I mean. In terms of information and exhibits, the Holocaust Museum in DC is second to none. I literally almost broke into tears a couple of times. (OK, there may have been a little light sobbing) No museum has ever affected me the way that one did.

What the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe offered, that no other museum I've been to has offered, was proximity. The exhibits showed pictures of the streets of Berlin, familiar addresses now. Suddenly, it hits you that the places photographed are no longer thousands of miles away, but within walking distance. When you finally ascend from beneath the memorial, out into the brightness of day, you feel awakened to the history of the Earth beneath your feet and the buildings in your sight. And there really is no substitute for that.