Davidstern mit Büchern

08:19 Jul 13, 2017 

the author is not claiming that the sculpture is meant to denote books, but that he perceives it as such - hence the quotation marks.

20:44 Jul 12, 2017 

Thank you very much for making the effort to explain this in detail. It is really helpful. I will make an effort to go see this the next time I'm in Berlin.
I did not have time to do more research - just proposed a 'translation'. And as per your description it is indeed a work of art.

18:48 Jul 12, 2017 

I would advise you to tell the author if you can that these are not meant to be books at all, just a broken staircase, (and no, not a staircase of books) so 'mit Büchern' is completely wrong: 'Dahinter deutet das Denkmal Treppenstufen an, die in Richtung Himmel steigen. Auf einer ergänzenden Tafel stehen die Sätze: "Stufen die keine Stufen mehr sind – Eine Treppe, die keine Treppe mehr ist – Abgebrochen – Symbol des Weges, der kein Weg mehr war. Für die, die über Rampen, Gleise, Stufen und Treppen diesen letzten Weg gehen mussten…"' If you can't tell the author, I would stick to the literal translation and add a note that the source text is wrong. Completely disagree with all the 'disagrees' - except any objections to 'books' and their symbolism - and especially disagree with the suggestion of translating it as Jewish or Holocaust Memorial (at the very least without capitals) - the source text explains exactly what it is in the rest of the sentence, no need to explain it twice. It was the author's choice to describe it as such - in quotation marks - rather than using the official German title.

15:46 Jul 10, 2017 

At least now I know what I'm dealing with.

15:41 Jul 10, 2017 

Not heavenly... heaven... just an allusion to death... as I said, heaven as the destination. Not heavenly at all.. not to be taken literally!

15:37 Jul 10, 2017 

(went up in smoke) before the people. Nothing particularly heavenly about it imo.

15:34 Jul 10, 2017 

nice idea... stairway to heaven in a very different vein

15:33 Jul 10, 2017 

it should read a Berlin Holocaust Memorial.

15:26 Jul 10, 2017 

This is not Berlin's Holocaust Memorial! The biggest is the one with the various stones in different sizes .. and that is seen as THE Holocaust memorial. As per my explanation, this is just one of many. Berlin has done an enormous, great job of these "Mahnmale".

15:25 Jul 10, 2017 

perhaps

15:23 Jul 10, 2017 

"standing on the Putlitz Bridge before the Deportation Memorial depicting a Star of David and (what appears to be?) a pile of books"

15:21 Jul 10, 2017 

on/at the Putlitz Bridge makes it clear

15:18 Jul 10, 2017 

Thanks Ramey... appreciate the input.

15:16 Jul 10, 2017 

Yes, just offering some options.

15:10 Jul 10, 2017 

Agreed, but the asker was looking for a translation of the text as such.

15:06 Jul 10, 2017 

is Deportationmahnmal and simply Jewish Memorial in English. Why not Star of David Memorial - where it is and what it represents is depicted in the continuing text.

14:59 Jul 10, 2017 

Agree with Lancashireman

14:56 Jul 10, 2017 

but couldn't 'see' the books.
Also thought it might refer to him as a young boy, who might have worn a Star of David and crossed that very bridge carrying books on his way to school.

14:54 Jul 10, 2017 

According to Wikipedia, it's supposed to represent a staircase, but it certainly looks like a pile of books falling over to me.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportationsmahnmal_Putlitzbrü...

14:52 Jul 10, 2017 

It's a memorial site, one of many in Berlin. Depicts a Star of David with books. If you want to see what it looks like, here's a link. The symbolism is pretty clear.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportationsmahnmal_Putlitzbrü...