Holocaust memorial crumbling

last updated 8 January 2015

Berlin

The Holocaust memorial in Berlin, built just two years ago at a cost of $38 million, has already begun to show cracks. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is made up of nearly 3,000 huge concrete slabs arranged in a field near the Brandenburg Gate. Almost 400 of the slabs have cracks, many several yards long, through which rainwater has been seeping and leaving unsightly stains. Officials plan to seal the cracks with resin. “We hope that afterward one won’t be able to see those white calcium deposits anymore,” memorial director Uwe Neumaerker said. The architect, Peter Eisenman, an American, shrugged off criticism that his creation was showing signs of wear so quickly. “At least it’s not falling down and killing people, like that bridge in Minneapolis,” he said.