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Memorial Passages for Walter Benjamin

Memorial Passages for Walter Benjamin is a memorial by Israeli artist Dani Karavan located in the Catalan town of Portbou, just beside the local cemetery. The sculpture commemorates the German philosopher Walter Benjamin, who died tragically in Portbou on 26 September 1940 during an unsuccessful attempt to cross the French border. Benjamin had planned to flee Nazi authorities by traveling through Spain to Portugal and then on to the United States. Stopped by border guards who refused him passage, he feared being handed over to the Gestapo and took his own life.

Steep rust-colored metal staircase descending between tall walls at the Walter Benjamin Memorial in Portbou.
The Walter Benjamin Memorial in Portbou features a narrow metal staircase that descends toward the sea.
December 2009 © · Public domain
Pasaïges stepped walkway framed by rusted metal walls above the sea.
Pasaïges by Dani Karavan, with a stepped passageway leading down toward the water.
September 2010 © Generalitat de Catalunya · Attribution
Pasaże, a narrow stairway descending toward the sea behind dark metal walls and a glass barrier.
Pasaże is seen as a steep enclosed stairway leading down toward the water.
© · Attribution
Pasajes memorial with a dark metal chute framed by rusted walls overlooking the sea.
Pasajes, the Walter Benjamin memorial in Portbou, frames the sea at the end of a steep metal passage.
September 2014 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Walter Benjamin memorial sculpture in Portbou beside the cemetery archway, with the sea and trees in the background.
The Walter Benjamin memorial in Portbou stands near the cemetery entrance, overlooking the sea.
December 2009 © · Public domain

Identification

TitleMemorial Passages for Walter Benjamin
Catalan titlePassatges
Official German title"Passagen" – Gedenkort für Walter Benjamin und die Exilierten der Jahre 1933–1945
TypeMemorial sculpture; memorial site
Original-language titlePassagen

Historical context

SubjectWalter Benjamin and the exiles of 1933–1945
Commemorated personWalter Benjamin, German philosopher
Historical contextCreated in connection with Walter Benjamin's death and exile history; Benjamin died in Portbou on 26 September 1940 while fleeing Nazi authorities and attempting to cross from France into Spain on his way to Portugal and then the United States
Related routeCrossing the Pyrenees to Portbou with a small group led by Lisa Fittko on 25 September 1940
Death circumstancesBenjamin died in his hotel room on the night of 26 September 1940; it is suspected that he took his own life with an overdose of morphine after learning that the refugee group would be deported back to France

Creator

ArtistDani Karavan
Artist nationalityIsraeli
Artist professionSculptor

Discovery and provenance

FundingOriginally budgeted very modestly; initial funding was stopped by the German Foreign Office after criticism, and the project was later financed by 12 German federal states, the regional government of Catalonia, and private donors
Gifted toThe municipality of Portbou
Estimated cost980,000 DM
Planning organizationArbeitskreis selbständiger Kultur-Institute e.V. (AsKI)
Artist selectionIn 1989, Konrad Scheurmann of AsKI, acting under authorization from the German Foreign Ministry, contacted Karavan and offered him the commission
Initiated byAt the suggestion of Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker
Commissioned byThe German Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, with the Catalan and German authorities involved

Location and ownership

LocationPortbou Cemetery, Portbou, Catalonia, Spain
SiteOn a rocky peninsula just outside Portbou, about 20 meters above sea level, with views over Portbou Bay
Site significanceBuilt at the place where Walter Benjamin died
Site selectionThe authorities of Portbou gave the artist complete freedom to choose the location
Landscape settingIntegrated into a seaside landscape

Materials

Primary materialsRusting steel and glass

Physical characteristics

VisibilityThe sea is not visible while descending; it becomes visible only at the bottom
CompositionThree passages in total: the tunnel passage and two walks along the path
Lower endClosed with a glass plate
ComponentsA small four-step staircase ending abruptly; a square platform with a cube in its center; a northeast stair descending from the cemetery forecourt into the rock; a steel corridor open to the sky extending over the sea and ending in a glass plate; a rocky path leading to an olive tree and a viewing point
AccessVisitors can enter the monument
Steel plates height2.35 metres
FormA descending corridor-like memorial composed of several elements distributed across the landscape
Steps87 steep steps leading down to the water

Appearance

Setting detailsA rocky path leads to an olive tree and to a point where the sea and horizon can be seen through the cemetery fence

Iconography and meaning

InscriptionA quotation from Walter Benjamin's notes for his final Theses on the Concept of History, written in 1939: "Schwerer ist es, das Gedächtnis der Namenlosen zu ehren als das der Berühmten. Dem Gedächtnis der Namenlosen ist die historische Konstruktion geweiht. Walter Benjamin, G.S. I, 1241"
Inscription languageGerman, with versions in several languages including English
English quotation"It is a more arduous task to honour the memory of anonymous beings than that of famous persons. The construction of history is consecrated to the memory of those who have no name."
Title meaningThe title alludes both to Benjamin's last failed crossing from France to Spain and to his unfinished work Passages
ThemesLoneliness and exile; commemoration of the anonymous rather than the famous

History and restoration

Unveiling date15 May 1994
Related publication"Für Walter Benjamin"; French, English, and Spanish editions were also issued
Related exhibition"Grenzüberschreitungen. Walter Benjamin – Leben und Werk"
ReactionThe funding stoppage caused broad incomprehension in the international cultural public
Public criticismThe Federal Court of Audit criticized the project, apparently based on incorrect information, saying that a grave-maintenance measure had become a million-mark project; the tabloids Bild and Neue Revue sensationalized the cost
Unveiling attendeesRichard von Weizsäcker, Lisa Fittko, Princess Helga Maria zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, Volkmar Zühlsdorff, representatives of the German authorities and the authorities of Portbou
Foundation stone laid26 September 1990, the 50th anniversary of Walter Benjamin's death
Construction resumedAfter support from Richard von Weizsäcker
Construction delayConstruction was suspended because of debate in Germany over whether the project should be financed
Planned opening1992, for Walter Benjamin's 100th birthday
Construction start26 September 1993
Surveying and layoutIn 1990 Karavan measured the site and marked out the sculpture's layout
First visitsKaravan visited Portbou in October 1989 and December 1989
Additional documentationNew documents about Walter Benjamin's death were discovered in the municipal archive in Portbou during the exhibition and published by AsKI in autumn 1992