Olympic assassination Munich 72

Creating an internationally respected place for the dignified commemoration of innocent victims of terrorist violence is undoubtedly one of the most difficult tasks for architects and scenographers. The list of successful memorials around the world is therefore short, and the recently published competition results for the “Munich 72 Olympic Attack Memorial” show that it is not getting any longer. There may be many reasons why the building on Connollystrasse, where the terrorist murders of “Black September” began, was not chosen as the center of remembrance, and why the adjacent park was chosen instead. However, working in a landscape context, especially in an open space of such outstanding quality as Munich’s Olympic Park, is by no means less demanding. This was evidently underestimated by the awarding authority of the competing procedure, the Free State of Bavaria.

Anyone who masters the “language of landscape” in design quickly realizes that where “violence”, “death” and “hill” meet without a sensitive sense, a multitude of misleading interpretations are inevitable. In view of the award-winning work by Brückner & Brückner Architekten, the associations with a camouflaged military shelter, from which the crime scene at 31 Connollystrasse can once again be targeted, are all too obvious. It is all too easy to conjure up the image of a green grave slab that has been lifted from the hill and provisionally elevated to reveal what lies beneath. All too quickly, the “cut through the existing hill” praised in the jury report is not read as a precise interaction with the existing landscape, but simply as the merciless topping of a gently modeled hilltop. Perhaps this is intended to enhance the memorial’s evocative effect, but the hoped-for “aura of dignity” will not materialize at this site of predictable misunderstandings.

Update (10/16): Following protests from residents of the Olympic Village, the exact location for the memorial is to be decided once again. Originally planned to be located on the so-called Connolly Hill, a small hill overlooking the site of the 1972 assassination attempt, the Bavarian Minister of Culture Ludwig Spaenle now wants an alternative location within a radius of 100 meters to be examined. Consensus with the local residents is important to him. In addition, the Conolly Hill itself is a historic site, as camera teams and athletes stood there in 1972 to observe the Palestinian assassins.

The following offices took part in the competition:
hg merz architekten museumsgestalter, Berlin, Stuttgart
Bertron Schwarz Frey, Berlin, Ulm, with Tehiru Architects, Tel Aviv
Martin Kohlbauer Architects, Vienna
chezweitz, Berlin
Brückner & Brückner Architects with Dr. Winfried Helm, Würzburg, Tirschenreuth
sinai. Landscape architects with ON architektur, Berlin

Location: Google Maps