Trains to Life – Trains to Death (German: Züge in das Leben – Züge in den Tod) is a 2.25 meter outdoor bronze sculpture by architect and sculptor Frank Meisler, installed outside the Friedrichstraße station at the intersection of Georgenstraße and Friedrichstraße, in Berlin, Germany.[1] It is the second in a series of so far five installations also on display near train stations in London, Hamburg, Gdańsk and Hook of Holland.[citation needed]
| Trains to Life – Trains to Death | |
|---|---|
| German: Züge in das Leben – Züge in den Tod | |
 The sculpture in 2009. In the foreground are the five children, and in the background are the two children (see article text). | |
 | |
| Artist | Frank Meisler |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Dimensions | 225 cm (89 in) |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| 52°31′11″N 13°23′16″E / 52.51986°N 13.38773°E | |
Description
editThe sculpture depicts two groups of children. One group is a pair of children symbolizing those saved by the Kindertransport, which brought 10,000 Jewish children from soon-to-be Nazi-occupied countries in Eastern Europe to safety in the United Kingdom and other countries.[2] The other group consists of five children, who represent the 1,600,000 Jewish and non-Jewish children brought by Holocaust trains to the concentration camps and later killed there. Meisler himself was among those saved by the Kindertransport.[3]
History
editIn January 2023 Pro-Palestinian protestors who illegally protested despite a ban on protests on the New Year eve vandalized the monument spraying graffiti on the statues of children and drawing mosques on their bodies.[4][5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Trains to Life – Trains to Death". Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ Trains to Life – Trains to Death, Information Portal to European Sites of Remembrance
- ^ Train to life/Trains to Death, Friedrichstraße, 6 Million Memorials
- ^ "Memorial for Holocaust era children vandalized following pro-Palestinian rally". I24news. 2 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Berlin's Kindertransport memorial vandalised after pro-Palestinian rally". www.jewishnews.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
External links
edit
- Kindertransport Sculptures Archived 2012-03-24 at the Wayback Machine at Frank Meisler's official website
