June 25, 1999: The German Bundestag resolved by a large majority to erect a "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe" in Berlin. This was preceded by a protracted controversy, which is to be counted among the most important self-understanding debates of the emerging "Berlin Republic". On the basis of the journalistic statements, the main lines of conflict in the monument dispute are analyzed in this book. A second level of investigation is the artistic drafts, which vividly illustrate the difficulties of the project. From a cultural-theoretical, historical-didactic and memory-ethical perspective, the focus is at the same time on more general questions: How does historical memory change due to the growing time lag to National Socialism? What can mourning for those murdered during the Nazi regime still mean today?