Economist.com Cities Guide: Berlin Briefing - May 2005

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A monumental effort

After close to 17 years of planning and six years of designing and building, Berlin’s Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe was unveiled on May 10th, opening to the public two days later. Designed by Peter Eisenman, a New York architect, the monument near the Brandenburg Gate cost €27.6m ($34.8m) to build and consists of 2,711 concrete slabs of varying height. Some say they resemble tombstones, but Mr Eisenman insists he has created a “place of hope”.

Next to the field of stones stand several memorial rooms. One contains the names and short biographies of 800 murdered Jews, another has the last words of thousands engraved in the floor, and a third names 200 locations of Nazi crimes. There is an elaborate, underground information centre for students, researchers and the public. At night, 180 lights illuminate the 19,000 square-metre space, creating a stunning and sombre vista. Nonetheless, the opening was marred by an act of vandalism, when a swastika was discovered scrawled on one of the slabs. It was quickly removed.

Never forget

Berlin marked the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 8th with muted vigils and vows never to let the like of the Nazi-era atrocities happen again. Local media competed for new war-era stories, such as how, with defeat looming, German soldiers were supplied with drugs and alcohol to keep them fighting. There were also stories about how Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, long considered a “good Nazi”, actually knew about plans for the genocidal “Final Solution” early in the war. Hitler’s nurse broke a 60-year silence to talk about his final days in the bunker.

To the horror of many Berliners, more than 3,000 neo-Nazis had planned to march in protest against what they termed “60 years of liberation lies”, and to demand an end to Germany’s “cult of guilt”. After much debate, city leaders reluctantly ceded to the group their right to demonstrate. But local citizens were not so polite. A crowd of over 10,000 people took to the streets in response, blocking the neo-Nazis' planned route, to the extent that their leaders gave up and sent their supporters home.

Service resumed

Over three years after being scrapped, direct flights between Berlin and the United States have resumed. Delta, an American airline, began its daily service between Tegel airport and New York’s JFK International on May 3rd. Lufthansa, Germany’s national carrier, had previously operated a Berlin-Washington, DC route, but cancelled after bookings dropped after September 11th 2001. Until Delta's move, travellers between Berlin and America have had to transfer in Frankfurt or elsewhere.

Delta executives are confident the route will be a success, saying seats in business class are 80% booked for the first three months. In July, Delta’s rival, Continental, will add its own transatlantic route with daily service to Newark, New Jersey. Klaus Wowereit, Berlin’s mayor, who has made it a personal goal to transform Berlin into a world-class city on par with Paris or London, has hailed the airlines' moves. The city is also working to persuade airlines to provide direct flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai.

A nation's creations

The largest collection of Israeli art ever shown in Europe has come to Berlin. From May 20th until September, the exhibition, entitled “The New Hebrews: A Century of Art in Israel”, is on view at the Martin-Gropius-Bau. It features over 700 paintings, photos, installations and video projections depicting the complicated evolution of Israel from 1906 (when Jerusalem’s renowned Bezalel art school opened) until the present.

The collection is in Berlin to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic ties between Germany and Israel. The absence of work by Palestinians caused some controversy, but Doreet LeVitte Harten, the show's curator, was quoted in the Financial Times as saying that none of the Palestinian artists she approached wanted to be included. Despite mixed reviews, the show contains some startling material, including one of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls discovered between 1947 and 1956, which many Israelis say legitimates their claim to Israel as the Jewish homeland.

A tragic end

Bianca Müller, Berlin's police commissioner, was found dead in her apartment on April 28th, after taking an overdose of pills. Emergency services broke into her home, in a smart Berlin neighbourhood, after colleagues reported that she had not appeared at work for several days. A note left by the 50-year-old commissioner blamed workplace harassment for her troubles. Financial problems may have also contributed.

Ms Müller, born a hermaphrodite, had made her career in the police as a man until undergoing a sex-change operation in 1992. Since then, she had complained of “mobbing”, or workplace bullying, and insisted her choice had damaged her career. Eventually, she became a co-ordinator for a group called “Critical Police”, which fought against discrimination and for the fair treatment of police officers. Her death has raised awareness of sexism in the police force and the pressures faced by policewomen.

Catch if you can

June 2005

25: Deutsche Guggenheim

Until June 19th 2005

This exceptional exhibition at the local sibling of the Guggenheim family (a collaboration between Deutsche Bank and the Guggenheim Foundation) marks the silver jubilee of Deutsche's commitment to contemporary art. Dr Ariane Grigoteit, the show's curator, has somehow managed to cull a sample of 300 works from a collection of 50,000, with help from a group of the museum's supporters.

Zaha Hadid, a London architect, has designed the setting for this “journey”, which puts masterpieces of German expressionism, such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Bahnhof Königstein” (1917) (pictured), Wassily Kandinsky’s “Aquarell mit rotem Fleck” (1911) and Emil Nolde's “Phantasie” (1931) in pride of place. Alongside are more contemporary German artists, including Joseph Beuys, Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter and Neo Rauch, the young star of the “Leipzig School”, and outstanding international works by Bill Viola, Cindy Sherman, Tim Stoner and Elizabeth Peyton.

Deutsche Guggenheim, Unter den Linden 13/15, 10117 Berlin-Mitte. Tel: +49-30-202093-0 or visit the museum's website.

More from the Berlin cultural calendar