Berlin’s Holocaust memorial is said to be in urgent need of repair.
Hairline cracks were found in some 400 of the monument’s 2,711 slabs. Among several possible explanations are frost damage and building works nearby.
The $14.5 million Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was unveiled just over two years ago and covers an area of about three football fields in central Berlin. Some 7 million visitors have made it one of the German capital’s most popular tourist sites.
The cracks began appearing after just seven months. Experts say the gray blocks now have to be injected with a plastic resin.
A spokesman for the memorial’s New York architect, Peter Eisenman, said it was surprising the cracks had spread so quickly. Eisenman described the concrete used for the memorial as “the best in Berlin.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
