How can a house embody a writer’s soul? We are standing before the Borchert-Denkmal. It is a memorial to Wolfgang Borchert. This thought-provoking sculpture sits near the Literaturhaus on the eastern Alsterufer.
The Borchert-Denkmal was created by Timm Ulrichs. It stands as a tribute to the “homeless poet”. The artwork is a simple bronze house. It rests slightly elevated on two stone blocks.
Look closely at the front. You will see an inscription. It reads: “WE ARE THE GENERATION WITHOUT BINDING AND WITHOUT DEPTH. OUR DEPTH IS THE ABYSS.”
The back bears another inscription. It says: “WE ARE A GENERATION WITHOUT FAREWELL BUT WE KNOW THAT ALL ARRIVAL BELONGS TO US.” These are quotes from Borchert’s prose piece “Generation without Farewell”. The dates of the poet’s life are also inscribed.
Notice the narrow sides of the house. There are negative forms of two handprints. They extend into the sculpture’s interior. The information board reveals their meaning. Inside is a life-size hollow form. It depicts a standing person with outstretched arms. You can feel the openings for the feet below.
This Borchert-Denkmal avoids a classic figurative representation. It chooses an abstract conceptual form of remembrance. The house symbolizes Borchert’s famous drama “Draußen vor der Tür”. It also represents the loss of homeland. It shows a restless spiritual state.
Wolfgang Borchert’s life was marked by hardship. He was drafted into the military in 1941. By 1942, he had contracted diphtheria. He landed in the hospital with war wounds. His liver was damaged, and full recovery was impossible.
Borchert faced repeated conflicts with army leadership. He was suspected of insubordination in his letters. He was imprisoned in Nuremberg. Released on the condition of returning to the Eastern Front, he suffered hypothermia. Subsequently he contracted jaundice. He was again hospitalized in Smolensk.
In 1944, Borchert was tried again in Berlin. He was sentenced to nine months in prison. He was then sent back to the front, deathly ill. In 1945, his regiment surrendered to the French in Frankfurt am Main. He fled to Hamburg. By 1946, tuberculosis was added to his liver disease. He sought treatment at a spa in Basel, Switzerland. There he died in November 1947.
The Borchert-Denkmal was inaugurated on what would have been Wolfgang Borchert’s 75th birthday. It serves as a powerful reminder of his words and experiences. It prompts reflection on themes of home, loss and the search for meaning. As you leave this place reflect on Borchert’s enduring impact.