Homomonument

Brief information

Three pink granite triangles on Westermarkt combine to form one large triangle, but the monument does not stand apart from the square: it is set into the pavement, opens onto the water, and directs the eye toward other points in the city. Karin Daan conceived the Homomonument as a sign that does not obscure Amsterdam’s historic center, but is literally woven into it.

The pink triangle is important here not as an abstract emblem. In Nazi concentration camps, homosexual prisoners were marked with this sign; later it became a symbol of the LGBT community’s struggle for rights. That is why the monument speaks at once of memory, visibility, and support. It was unveiled in 1987 in memory of all gay men and lesbians who were persecuted because of their sexual orientation, not only the victims of the Second World War.

What to notice first

It is worth comparing three states of the same material. One granite triangle by the canal is transformed into steps that descend from the pavement to a platform on the water; its point faces Dam Square and the National Monument to the victims of the Second World War. The second is raised above the square like a podium and points toward the headquarters of COC, the oldest gay organization. The third lies flush with the cobblestones; along its edge is engraved a line by Jacob Israël de Haan, “Such an endless desire for friendship,” and its point indicates the Anne Frank House.

These differences turn the sign into a diagram of time: the present by the water, the future on the raised platform, the past in the slab at square level. Thin granite lines connect them into a large triangle, while the plaque on the canal railing faces both land and water. The monument is read not only by its form, but also by where its corners point.