Wolfgang Borchert Memorial at Schwanenwik

Created by Timm Ulrichs in 1996, the Wolfgang Borchert Memorial at Schwanenwik commemorates the Hamburg writer and his experiences of war, persecution and an untimely death. The bronze sculpture contains negative casts of human hands—striking voids that evoke absence, loss and the devastating consequences of war.

Excerpts from Borchert’s prose text Generation ohne Abschied are engraved into the bronze, capturing the spirit of a generation shaped by war. The memorial brings together literary remembrance and a pared-back visual language.