In the city that houses Germany's constitutional court, artist Jochen Gerz created one of the most quietly powerful public artworks in the country. The Platz der Grundrechte consists of 19 carved stone pillars in front of the Federal Court of Justice, each one engraved with one of the 19 fundamental rights guaranteed by Germany's Basic Law.
The installation is designed so that the rights can only be read if you walk among the pillars and engage with each one directly — passive viewing from the street reveals nothing. The positioning outside the Federal Court of Justice is entirely intentional: the Bundesgerichtshof is the court that enforces these rights, and the square makes the abstract language of constitutional law visible and accessible. It is a genuinely thought-provoking piece of civic art, particularly striking given the historical context in which Germany's constitution was written.