er and Democratic politician who died in 1990). Visited by EWL 08Aug09.

Peace Monuments Made from Steel Plate

Modern monuments made of CorTen steel, stainless steel, aluminum, etc.

Right click image to enlarge.

"Broken Obelisk:" Four identical monuments by Barnett Newman [1905-1970]. Each is 6,000 pounds of Corten steel more than 25 feet high -- a pyramid topped by a reversed obelisk ascending yet torn, or 'broken,' at its top, obviously some kind of symbolic object roughly resembling traditional monuments of combined pyramid and obelisk. Newman himself described the sculpture in terms conventional to his art: 'It is concerned with life, and I hope I have transformed its tragic content into a glimpse of the sublime.'"

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 11 West 53rd Street, New York City, New York (USA). A sculpture by Barnett Newman. Four versions of it exist.

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Central Plaza (Red Square), near Suzallo Library, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (USA).

February 27, 1971 - Broken Obelisk, Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas (USA). First exhibited in front of the Seagram Building in New York City, and then the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In 1969, Houson city officials said they would reject this as a public memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. [1929-1968]. Dominique & John de Menil proposed that it be placed in front of City Hall with the words "Forgive Them, for They Know Not What They Do" before erecting it permanently at the Rothko Chapel.

2003 - Broken Obelisk, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Germany). A fourth was cast in 2003 by permission of the Barnett Newman Foundation and temporarily installed in front of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

1966 - Pacim in Terris, 96 Covered Bridge Road, Warwick, New York (USA). Sculptures & sculpture garden created by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006]. Dedicated to Dr. Albert Schweitzer (with whom Dr. Franck practiced dentistry in Gabon 1958-1961), Pope John XXIII (whom he sketched during the Second Vatican Council) & Buddhist sage Daisetz T. Suzuki (who "taught me to think"). Images show entrance sculpture, St. Francis sculpture, Seven Generations, & Hiroshima--The Unkillable Human.

S C U L P T U R E November 18, 1979 - Peace Sculpture, Saint Peter's College, Jersey City, New Jersey (USA). "Created by Jasha Green [1923-2006], a renowned sculptor and painter, to commemorate the signing of the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. Using two rust-red, Cor-ten steel pieces to construct the abstract, 8-foot high sculpture, he created a “V” shape to represent a dove’s wings. A smaller model of the 12-foot sculpture located in Jerusalem at the International Cultural Center for Youth. A third Peace sculpture is displayed at the Beth Shalom Home in Eastern Virginia. According to Dianne Green, the artist’s wife, the Peace sculptures were placed at these three sites because each one serves a different age group."

1981 - Broken Shield, central quadrangle, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana (USA). Sculpture by John Mishler. "One of his first metal pieces, Broken Shield became a part of the college, which used it in its advertising. It has been covered in tinfoil, a student made a papier mache figure and posed them together for his senior show and other students turned it into a flag." Goshen is a Mennonite college with the slogan "Healing the World, Peace by Peace."

1987 - Peace Monument, Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA). Erected by Japan at site of only battle on US soil during World War II.

1988 - Peace Monument, Bicentennial Park (north of the distinctive water feature), Sydney, New South Wales (Australia). Metal sculpture by artist Michael Kitching. Commissioned by the NSW government in 1986 to commemorate the UN International Year of Peace (qv).

G A R D E N

1990 - Peace Garden, Riverfront Park, Susquehana River, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA). Placed by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). Cutouts by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006] relate to victims of Hiroshima. See Franck's Pacim in Terris sculpture garden in Warwick, New York (USA). Entry #866 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). PSR received Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. 1985

March 23, 1991 - "Infinity," Peace Symbols Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). From Ankara, Republic of Turkey. "The figure of a man and woman joined hand in hand symbolized peace and peace and harmony among the entire human race."

P L A Z A 1995 - Family Plaza, International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem (Israel). "Endowed by Felix & Ruta Zandman in memory of their families who perished in the Holocaust. Within the plaza is a [steel] sculpture, strategically placed to overlook the impressive view of Jerusalem & its suburbs, by renowned artist Menashe Kadishman, winner of the Israel Prize for Art in 2000. The sculpture, which was also endowed by Ruta & Dr. Felix Zandman, was inspired by Zandman's personal story during the Holocaust."

1996 - "A Landmark for Peace," MLK Park, one block west of 17th Street & College Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). Marks the spot where presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy [1926-1968] announced on April 4, 1968, to a large, mostly Black audience that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-1968] had just been assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. (Kennedy was assassinated on June 6, 1968.) Designed by Indiana artist Greg Perry, the monument includes busts of King & Kennedy sculpted by controversial artist Daniel Edwards from handguns melted down after a police buy back program. Click here for a description by Rev. Chris Buice of Knoxville, Tennessee, including text of Kennedy's speech which helped prevent race riots as occured in at least 110 other US cities. Click here for a 2009 video about the event and monument. Click here for air view of the park & monument. A plaque credits Diane Meyer Simon and various Simon family interests as major contributors. The plaque also says that the monument is "Dedicated to the memory of Larry Conrad" but says nothing about Conrad (a local lawyer and Democratic politician who died in 1990). Visited by EWL 08Aug09.

July 21, 1998 - Parque de la Memoria, frente al Río de la Plata, Zona Norte, Buenos Aires (Argentina). "Fin de recordar a las víctimas del régimen militar de terrorismo de estado conocido como Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976-1983)." Left image: Sin título, escultura de Roberto Aizenberg [1928-1996] representando seres fragmentados. Right image: Monumento al escape, escultura de Dennis Oppenheim, dedicated in October 2006.

P L A Z A

2002 - Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza, Perryville Bike Path, Riverside & McFarland, Rockford, Illinois (USA). "Forty Flags, Sixty Languages, Ten Prophets of Peace, Two Hemispheres, One World." "Celebrates the rich and diverse ethnic history of the Rock River Valley." 15 foot by 34 foot sculpture "Harmony Atlas" atop a 7 foot by 25 foot granite sculpture base...adorned with 10 peace quotes" from John F. Kennedy; Mother Theresa; Martin Luther King; Mahatma Gandhi; an Oglala Sioux Native American; Albert Einstein; Abraham Lincoln; John Lennon; Petrarch; Aristide Briand; . . . and the Q&A from Micah 6:8 of Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition: "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

S Y N A G O G U E

November 2000 - Synagogue Memorial, "Synagogenplatz," Gartenstrasse, Tübingen (Germany). At site of Tübingen's former synagogue. From the large metal box to the metal column on the street, there is a narrow channel for water to flow under metal plates bearing the names of victims and down this simple waterfall in the foreground. Commemorates not only the building and its destruction, but also all the Jews of Tübingen who were murdered in the Holocaust. The synagogue was burned down during the Reichskristallnacht of November 9, 1938. Tübingen Nazis threw the Torah rolls into the Neckar, arrested five Jews and sent them to Dachau, and set the synagogue ablaze. After the war, Tübingen courts sentenced three of those involved to prison terms of 20 to 32 months. Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

2002 - Torch of Friendship, San Antonio, Texas (USA). Fifty-ton sculpture made in Mexico. A gift to San Antonio from the Association of Mexican Entrepreneurs. According to scu;ptor Sebastian, "Obviously, I thought of all the possible allegorical meanings of a burning torch, such as the fire of friendship, relationships, strength, and creativity. The complexity of the work is that it is in two parts; in this case from two countries, which is complex but the same time satisfying, festive, and friendly."

May 2003 - Versohnungs-kunstwerk / Artwork of Reconciliation, Gronau/Westfalen (Germany) & Losser (Netherlands). By Ahaus artist Andreas H. Groten. Created by Pax Christi groups in the Diocese of Muenster and by the "Christeen aan de grens" / "Christians at the Border" ecumenical initiative. The result is a work of art on a proposal by Manfred Laumann from Ahaus, who has been advocating for years for the Dutch-German reconciliation.

June 2004 - Peace Sculpture, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand (India). Sumerian cuneiform character for "peace" (oldest known language). Stainless steel sculpture by Jim Havens of Gibsonburg, Ohio (USA). (Sumerian is a language created out of necessity for the grain trade circa 2,500 BCE.) Photo by EWL.

C A M P

M U S E U M

December 10, 2005 - Hinzert Museum & Documentation Centre, Konzentrationslager Hinzert / Hinzert Concentration Camp, Polert, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). Made from CorTen steel by architect Nikolaus Hirsch. "30 km from the Luxembourg border. Between 1939 & 1945, 13,600 political prisoners between the ages of 13 and 80 were imprisoned at Hinzert. Many were in transit towards larger concentration camps where most would be killed. However, a significant number of prisoners were executed at Hinzert. The camp was administered, run, and guarded mainly by the SS, who, according to Hinzert survivors, were notorious for their brutality & viciousness." A memorial & documentation center (right image) was opened on the site in 2005. Designed by the architect firm Wandel Hoefer Lorch & Hirsch, the modern steel building houses a permanent exhibition of camp artefacts, photos & explanation notes.

Date? - "Pensar es un hecho revolucionario", Parque de la Memoria/Memory Park, northern end of the Belgrano section, Buenos Aires (Argentina). By Marie Orensanz of Argentina." The inscription means "Thinking Is a Revolutionary Act." "It reminds us that, at the time of the Dirty War, acts as trivial as carrying a book could awaken suspicion & result in a person being labelled as a subversive."

September 11, 2006 - Grief Tear Memorial, Bayonne, New Jersey (USA). "...opened to the anthems of Russia and the USA. On the bank of the Hudson River [facing the Statue of Liberty & Lower Manhattan], is a split 30-meter bronze plate with a giant tear made of titanium. The names of almost 3 thousand people killed on September, 11, 2001, are engraved on the monument. ...gift of Russian people, so sculptor Zurab Tsereteli who also and his colleagues took all the expenses on its erection up [sic]." Tsereteli also sculpted the statue of "Good Defeats Evil" (qv) at UN headquarters in 1990.

August 30, 2007 - Memorial to Deserters, Theaterhaus, Stuttgart (Germany). Smaller "postive" figure in front of larger "negative" figure. Awaits a more permanent location in downtown Stuttgart. NB: More than 15,000 men were executed for desertion by the Nazi regime. This monument was opposed by all political parties. The federal government argued that "Deserters are people who avoid their responsibility to the community." Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

May 27, 2008 - Presseandrang bei der Eröffnung des Denkmals für die im Nationalsozialismus verfolgten Homosexuellen / Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism, Berlin-Tiergarten (Germany). "Designed by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. On the front side of the concrete cuboid is a window, through which visitors can see a short film of two kissing men. The work is the third of its kind in Germany following Frankfurter Engel (1994) in Frankfurt and Kölner Rosa Winkel (1995) in Cologne."

August 17, 2008 - Youth Library, Chateau Park, Zonnebeke, Flanders (Belgium). Facade is 8 plates of Corfam steel. The words on the side of the library are the poessay "Tyne Cot" by artist Jan Theuninck. A "poessay" is a combination of the poem and essay forms. The title refers to Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces on the continent. English translation: " Tyne Cot. When you left for the front you were living heroes and now you are on top of the hill where only poppies blow.........."