Empty Library

On the site of the public square where the most famed book burning of the Twentieth Century took place, a powerful work of art acts as memorial. The Empty Library is not at all photogenic, as the form is a pit in the ground, filled with library shelves, all of course empty. While it is quite powerful to look at, the plexiglass that covers the work is open to the weather and to foot traffic, and it becomes quite scuffed and difficult to see into. But as a work of art, that difficulty does not detract from it, it enhances it.

The plaque with the quote from poet Heinrich Heine is often used to suggest his work on power predicted the burning of the books in an attempt to control thought. The picture of the plexiglass works for me, as our tour guide was pointing out buildings in the next block as I snapped his silhouette, but it looks for all the world as though he is giving a fiery speech on freedom.

If the two posts today cover some heavy ground, the next post will visit the surviving synagogue and then proceed to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.