Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

In front of you lies the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Germany's central Holocaust memorial. Just a few steps from the Brandenburg Gate, it occupies a plot that was part of the Wall's border strip during the Cold War.

1A seventeen-year debate

The idea emerged in the late 1980s, championed by the journalist Lea Rosh and the historian Eberhard Jäckel. Competitions, controversies and long public arguments followed, until in 1999 the Bundestag approved the design by the American architect Peter Eisenman. The memorial opened on 10 May 2005.

2Walking among the stelae

There are 2,711 concrete blocks spread over about 19,000 square metres. They all share the same footprint, but their height varies, and the ground slowly sinks towards the centre. Eisenman refused to give it a fixed meaning: there are no names and no symbols. The experience is up to you.

Step into any aisle and walk towards the middle: the noise of the city fades, and other visitors appear and vanish between the blocks.

Beneath the memorial is the Information Centre, a documentation space that gives names and faces to the victims: some six million Jews murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

This is a place of remembrance. Please don't jump between the stelae or sit on them to eat.

3What to look for

• The tilt of the blocks: many are not perfectly upright.
• The undulating ground, dipping towards the interior.
• The entrance to the Information Centre, on the south-east side of the field.