Controversial Jewish Memorial
There is so much controversy surrounding this thing I wonder if I have time to type it all. First of all, it's only commemorating Jews that died during World War II, not any of the other massacred and persecuted groups like gays, the disabled, etc etc. Second, it seems to totally be a rip off of a previously existing Jewish memorial behind the Jewish museum a few kilometers away. Thirdly, it is just a dream come true for graffiti artists (which are PLENTIFUL in Berlin, let me tell you) so they had to coat the whole thing with anti-paint varnish. However, the chemical company that won the bid to produce the varnish was the same company that produced the toxic gas during the war that was used to gas all the Jews.... Now, some say that can't really be held against them because it was during a facist regime where you had no choice but to particpate with the government, regardless of how brutal their requests, and they shouldn't be still held accountable for that 50+ years later, but it was kind of the last straw for a lot of people, I guess. Despite all the controversy, there's no denying it's pretty cool, and one of my favourite pieces of modern art for sure.