09.02.2024

Opening of the Gerhard Richter Birkenau Pavilion in Oświęcim

Gerhard Richter Birkenau Pavilion, the building dedicated to Gerhard Richter’s Birkenau Paintings, is now open to the public, not far from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, a place of the most horrific human tragedies.

The pavilion designed by Gerhard Richter for his Birkenau cycle was ceremoniously opened on his 92nd birthday and is a powerful testimony to the ability of art to express the incomprehensible and preserve the memory of the horrific experiences of the Holocaust.

The Birkenau Cycle – one of the artist’s greatest works – consists of four large-format, abstract paintings. They are the result of a long, intense struggle on the part of the artist with the horrors of the Holocaust. These works were inspired by four photographs taken secretly, and under the threat of death, in 1944 by prisoners in the Sonderkommando near the gas chamber and crematorium No.5 in Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. The paintings reveal Richter’s unique method of approaching the subject. His technique progressed in numerous steps, repeatedly reworking the paintings until they became abstracted beyond recognition. In this way he has created a space that oscillates between the clear portrayal and the blurred concealment of atrocities. This method invites viewers to contemplate and commemorate, without triggering renewed trauma in the victims.

Gerhard Richter’s determination not to sell this cycle, but to make it openly accessible to the public, clearly demonstrates the ethical and moral dimension of this work. The placing of the Birkenau Pavilion in the immediate vicinity of the historical scene of the crimes in Auschwitz-Birkenau is a powerful signal against oblivion and a testimony of solidarity with the survivors and the murdered victims of the Holocaust.

For Gerhard Richter, who has been living in Cologne since 1961, the permanent exhibition of his work in Oświęcim is “an honour and a comfort that gives me the feeling that a task has been completed.” He stresses the significance of Auschwitz as a symbol for all places of horror and atrocities, and especially the need to remember.

“With his Birkenau cycle, Gerhard Richter created a work that addresses the atrocities of the Holocaust in a profound and moving way,” Sabine Moritz-Richter, the artist’s wife, said during the opening ceremony. “We are grateful that these works have now found a permanent home close to the historical place of their inspiration, and that they can make  a contribution to expressing the incomprehensible pain inflicted by crimes against humanity.”

Marian Turski, President of the International Auschwitz Committee and an Auschwitz survivor, stressed the importance of art as a medium of remembrance: “Abstract art, such as the Birkenau Paintings, triggers the imagination and offers survivors like myself a space where we can come to terms with our traumas. This pavilion will be a place of meditation and silence, where visitors can contemplate their disturbing impressions.”

The exhibition of Gerhard Richter’s works enables visitors to come to terms with the events in Auschwitz-Birkenau in their own intense, personal way. The Gerhard Richter Pavilion acts not only a memorial, but also as a source of inspiration for present and future generations to stand up for a world where there is no place for hatred and violence.

Wolfgang Schmitt, Federal Minister in the Chancellery, stressed that “Gerhard Richter’s works are a symbol of humanity steeped in darkness, where it was threatened with extinction. They remind us that we must always keep humanity at the core of our actions, especially today when we are once again facing the shadows of far-right extremism.”

Christoph Heubner, the initiator of the project, stressed the importance of the pavilion as a “synagogal space” and as a “permanent and powerful signal against oblivion”. It stands as a sign of empathy and solidarity with the survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau and their murdered families.

The IAC thanks everyone who helped to realize this important project and invites people from around the globe to visit the Gerhard Richter Birkenau Pavilion. It is a powerful signal against oblivion and an important contribution to remembrance culture and the education of future generations. It serves as a warning that humanity, even in a place where it faced extinction, can be preserved and celebrated through the power of art and remembrance. It is a place that inspires contemplation and shows that remembering the past is the key to a more peaceful future, free from hatred and violence.