MATRIX

Botanical Inventory of an Urban Wasteland

BERLIN (GER) 2001

Until 1945, the plot of land at the corner of Behrensstraße / Ebertstraße south of the Brandenburg Gate was home to the gardens of the federal ministries. Following site appraisals carried out by the Berlin Senate, the German Federal Government and the Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (founded in 1988), this land is chosen as the site for a Holocaust memorial. An open competition in 1993 / 94 and a closed competition in 1997 / 98 result in the jury’s selection of the design proposed by US architect Peter Eisenman. But in the years leading up to this decision, the land here lies fallow. It is fenced in and not open to the public. Construction of the memorial begins in autumn 2001. The official opening of the Holocaust Memorial takes place on 20th May 2005.
In July 2001, I visit the fallow plot of land with ecological surveyor Dr Köstler. We identify over 150 plant species that have taken root during the long years of discussion about the future memorial (1988–2001). Among these are some 30 different medicinal herbs.

List of the wild plants growing on the plot of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in July 2001