Chatam Sofer Memorial Bratislava

Below is a description of a memorial that we visited in Bratislava (the capital of Slovaka). I will post some pictures shortly.

------- CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL ------- FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL - IN BRATISLAVA, NEAR THE RIVER DANUBE LIES AN OLD ORTHODOX CEMETERY. RECENTLY UNKNOWN, ALTHOUGH FOR ABOUT HALF OF A CENTURY VISITED BY PILGRIMS FROM THE WHOLE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM UP TO NEW YORK. THE REASON FOR THEIR VISITS IS THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER. THE BRATISLAVA’S RABBI AND SCHOLAR, WHO IS FAMOUS AND IN THE SAME TIME UNKNOWN, SIMILARLY AS THE PLACE OF HIS LAST REST. THE NOTED BRITISH HISTORIAN PAUL JOHNSON IS NOT MENTIONING THIS MAN IN HIS LARGE BOOK A HISTORY OF THE JEWS (1987). HOWEVER, IN THE COMMUNITY OF ORTHODOX JEWS CHATAM SOFER BELONGS TO THE MOST IMPORTANT HALAKIC AUTHORITIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE YESHIVA HE LEADED IN BRATISLAVA AND WHICH WAS THE CENTRE OF THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH TEACHING IN EUROPE, IS FUNCTIONING IN JERUSALEM AS PRESSBURGER YESHIVAH TILL TODAY. CHATAM SOFER, BY OWN NAME MOSHE SCHREIBER (1762 – 1836), WAS BORN IN FRANKFURT AM MEIN. HE LIVED IN CZECH PROSTÌJOV, LATER IN MATTERSDORF . HOWEVER HE BECOME AMOUS JUST DURING HIS WORK IN BRATISLAVA./1/ THE FORMER JEWISH CEMETERY WAS FOUNDED IN THE 17TH CENTURY, WHEN THE BRATISLAVA FAMILY PALFFY HAS ALLOWED JEWS TO BURY THEIR DEAD NEAR THE FORTIFICATION ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK. IT WAS USED TILL THE YEAR 1847. SINCE THAN IT WAS OUT OF WORK, THOUGH IT WAS PRESERVED. IN THE YEAR 1942 A LIQUIDATION IMPENDED THE CEMETERY. THE REASON WAS BUILDING OF A NEW TUNNEL AND REGULATION OF THE DANUBE RIVER. MOST OF THE GRAVES HAVE BEEN EXHUMED AND THE DEAD RESTS WERE BROUGHT OVER TO THE NEARBY NEW ORTHODOX CEMETERY. ONLY A SMALL AREA – 23 GRAVES INCLUDING THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER – REMAINED. THROUGH THE INCREASE OF THE GROUND LEVEL ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK, THE CEMETERY GOT IN THE UNDERGROUND. IT WAS COVERED BY CONCRETE PLATES AND REMAINED SO FOR A HALF OF A CENTURY. THE ONLY WAY TO REACH THE CEMETERY LEADED THROUGH AN INARTISTIC TIN SHELTER. ONLY THE NEW POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SITUATION IN NINETIETH ENABLED THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CEMETERY. THE UNITED EFFORT OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE GRAVESITES OF GEONAI PRESSBURG RESIDING IN NEW YORK AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF BRATISLAVA SUCCEEDED TO REALISE THE IDEA OF CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL. THE TRAM TRACKS WERE MOVED, THE CEILING OF THE CEMETERY WAS RAISED, THE TOMBSTONES WERE RESTORED AND NEW SPACES FOR VISITORS WERE CREATED. TOWARDS THE ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT ARCHITECT MARTIN KVASNICA CONCEIVED THE MEMORIAL AS A WAY, A WAY TO A STRANGE WORLD, A PILGRIMAGE TO THE GRAVES OF FATHERS. THE UNAMBIGUOUS LINE OF THE ENTRANCE PATH LEVITATES OVER THE AREA OF THE FORMER CEMETERY, COVERED BY TINY GRAVEL. THROUGH THIS BENCH GETS THE VISITOR TO THE BLACK PRISM, ARCHETYPE OF A TOMB. THE REINFORCED CONCRETE PRISM IS STEEPED BY BLACK COLOUR WITH ADDITION OF SILICATE, WHICH GIVES THE SURFACE INCONSPICUOUS DARK SHEEN. THE PRISM IS AN INTERFACE BETWEEN TODAY AND YESTERDAY, BETWEEN THE PRESENT AN THE PAST, BETWEEN PROFANE AND SACRAL WORLD. THE LIFTED ENTRANCE PATH AND THE BLACK OBJECT WITHOUT CEILING ARE THE STRONGEST AND MOST GENEROUS PARTS OF THE CONCEPT. THE FEELING OF LONELINESS AND ANXIETY THAT OVERWHELMS ONE IN THE CRAMPED SPACE BETWEEN THE BLACK WALLS UNDER THE DISTANT HAVEN BELONGS TO THE MOST REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES. THE WAY LEADS THE VISITOR FARTHER TO THE UNDERGROUND, WHERE THE RELIC OF THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY REMAINED. TWO INNER ROOMS, LIFTED OVER THE LEVEL OF THE CEMETERY, ARE DARK SIMPLE RECTANGULAR SPACES (ONE ROOM IS FOR LAYMEN, THE OTHER SERVES FOR PRAYING BELIEVERS) WITH GLITTERING BLACK FLOOR. HERE THE VISITOR COULD SEE THE GRAVES BEHIND THE GLASS WALL FOR THE FIRST TIME. A SUBTLE STEEL STAIRCASE LEADS THAN TO THE GRAVES AREA. HERE, BY THE GRAVES OF CHATAM SOFER AND OTHER IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BRATISLAVA ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY CULMINATES THIS PILGRIMAGE. IN THE UNDERGROUND SPACE OF GRAVES THE CEILING WAS LIFTED AND VISUALLY CONNECTED WITH THE VISITORS SPACES. THE SYSTEM OF ILLUMINATED GLASS PLATES PENETRATES THE CEILING AND PASSES FROM INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR. THE FORMER UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING OF LOW, NOT MAINTAINED BASEMENT, DISAPPEARED IN THIS WAY COMPLETELY. LAYERS, SYMBOLS, NARRATIVES AND UNREASONABLENESS HOWEVER, ANOTHER REAL AND ILLUSORY LAYERS ENTER THE CLEAR CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL AND ITS SOBER ARCHITECTURE. ON ONE HAND THEY CONTRADICT THE CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL, ON THE OTHER HAND THEY DEVELOP THE UNIQUE EXPRESSION OF THE WORK. THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL IS PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC MOSTLY AS A MEMORIAL OF THE IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ORTHODOX JEWS. NEVERTHELESS, ON THE RELICT OF THE CEMETERY ARE BURIED ALSO THE FATHERS OF HEINRICH HEINE, KARL MARX AND OTHER PERSONALITIES, WHICH WERE CREATING THE UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE OF PRESSBURG AND EUROPE OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY. THE MEMORIAL COULD BE THAN PERCEIVED AS A RELIGIOUS JEWISH PLACE, BUT IN THE SAME TIME AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT ON THE MAP OF EUROPEAN MULTIETHNIC AND MULTIRELIGIOUS CULTURE. WE COULD ASK, HOW HAS THIS MOMENT INFLUENCED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MEMORIAL? MOST EVIDENT IN THIS CONTEXT IS THE CONTINENCE OF ITS ARCHITECTURE. IN THIS REGION IT IS NOT USUAL TO BUILD MONUMENTAL TOMBS AND MEMORIALS. EVEN THE WAR MEMORIALS, WHICH ARE LARGE FOR LOCAL CONDITIONS, COULD NOT REACH THE ONES BUILT BY GREAT NATIONS. BIG GESTURES ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL HERE./2/ THE WORKS OF ART – COUPLE OF GATES AND THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING WERE DESIGNED BY FRANTIŠEK GULDAN IN CHARACTERISTIC NATURALISTIC-NARRATIVE PENCIL. THE FIRST GATE DIVIDING THE INNER SPACE OF THE PRISM FROM THE SURROUNDINGS IS INTENTIONALLY INARTISTIC TANGLE OF RUSTY STEEL BARS. THEY ARE IDEOLOGICALLY RELATED WITH THE WOVEN SHELTERS OF NOMAD JEWS, WHICH HAVE IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDED AND NOT DIVIDED THE ABODE FROM THE LAND. SIMILAR FABRIC USED TO DIVIDE PARTICULAR PARTS OF THE TEMPLE. COUPLE OF BIRDS HAVE ALREADY MADE THEIR NEST IN THE PLAITS OF THE BARS. THE GATE WANTS TO EVOKE THE THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD HISTORY OF JEWISH RELIGION AND IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDE THE SURROUNDING WORLD FROM THE DARKNESS OF THE OLD CEMETERY. THE SECOND GATE IS MADE OF COMPACT PATINED STEEL. IT SHOULD REMIND OF THE PLATES ON THE STONE GRAVES. THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING IS A COMBINATION OF THE BASE MADE OF SMALL STONE FRAGMENTS AND PATINED COPPER BOWL WITH A COUPLE OF TIN POTS FOR RINSING THE HANDS. ALL THE WORKS OF ART ARE INSPIRING IN THEIR AD HOC NATURALISM, THOUGH GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH PRECISE AND RATIONAL PURITY OF THE BUILDING. IF THE WORKS OF ART GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH THE PURE BUILDING BECAUSE OF THEIR NARRATIVES, THAN THE DIRECT SURROUNDINGS CONTRADICTS THE BUILDING BY ITS ACCIDENTAL QUALITY – THE CONCRETE SUPPORTING WALL, THE TUNNEL PORTAL, THREE PREFABRICATED HOUSES IN THE BACKGROUND AND EVEN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE CEMETERY. HOWEVER THIS IS A NATURAL LOCAL STRATIFICATION, ACCIDENTAL OR SPONTANEOUSLY ACCUMULATED IN THE PLACE OF THE CEMETERY. THE FENCE, WHICH AROSE IN ADDITION, IS COPYING THE VARIOUS LINES OF THE PLOT AND ONLY ITS ENTRANCE PART LOOKS LIKE TO BE IN ADEQUATE CONNECTION WITH THE ABSTRACT BLACK PRISM. THE REALISED PROJECT STANDS THEREFORE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A GESTURE AND A CLEVER SOLUTION OF A RESIDUAL TERRITORY. “THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CREATIONS OF ITS TIME RESULTED, ON MY OPINION, FROM UNREASONABILITY, WHILE THAT, WHAT RULES THE WORLD, WHAT GETS ON, DOMINATES AND OFTEN KILLS, HAPPENS ALWAYS IN THE NAME OF THE REASON, THE RATIONALITY.” STATED DANIEL LIBESKIND IN CONTEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY COORDINATES OF HIS PROPOSAL FOR THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN./3/ BY THE PROPOSAL FOR THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL PLAYED THE UNREASONABILITY ALSO AN IMPORTANT ROLE. THE FORM OF MEMORIAL IS LIKEWISE A RESULT OF VARIOUS ENTRIES: THE COHENS (THE DESCENDANTS OF TEMPLE PRIESTS) RULES, THE AWARENESS OF ACTUAL ARCHITECTONIC TENDENCIES, THE NARRATIVE SYMBOLIC OF WORKS OF ART, THE PROTECTION FROM THE ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALS, THE ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CEMETERY, THE SHAPE AND THE SCALE OF THE CEMETERY RELICT AS A RESULT OF PARADOXICAL HISTORIC SITUATION, THE ORIGINAL CONCRETE BEAMS PLACED ON THE EDGE OF THE PLOT, THE PLANTED GREENERY, WHICH COULD BE ACTUALLY PLANTED ONLY BY GOD... IMAGINATION IN COMBINATION WITH UTILITARIAN REQUIREMENTS, ABSTRACTION AND IN THE SAME TIME NARRATIVES, REMEMBRANCE AND CONCEALMENT, THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRATISLAVA FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL. ------- HENRIETA MORAVÈÍKOVÁ ------- NOTES: 1 BORSKÝ, M.: CHATAM SOFER. ARCH 7, 2002, N.6, P.24. 2 DULLA, M.: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND UNDERGROUND. CHATAM SOFER MAUSOLEUM IN BRATISLAVA. ARCH 5, 2000, N.2, P.22–24. 3 LIBESKIND, D.: ARCHITEKTUR UND SCHRIFTEN. MÜNCHEN – NEW YORK, PRESTEL 1994, P.100.