The David Berger Monument, (sculpture).

The David Berger Monument, (sculpture).

Davis, David E., 1920-2002, sculptor.

The David Berger Monument, (sculpture).

Dedicated Sept. 5, 1975.

Sculpture: approx. H. 14 ft. x Diam. 11 ft.; Base: approx. H. 5 in. x Diam. 11 in.

Ten broken rings, like the rings in the emblem of the Olympic Games, are grouped together around a central axis. The rings are broken near the top to emphasize a rising motion. Beneath the rings is a group of eleven individual slabs of concrete arranged vertically in a circle and topped by eleven horizontal slabs.

Abstract -- Geometric

Homage -- Berger, David

Occupation -- Sport -- Track & Field

Ceremony -- Festival -- Olympics

Allegory -- Death -- Murder

Outdoor Sculpture -- Ohio -- Cleveland Heights

Mayfield Jewish Community Center, 3505 Mayfield Road, Front lawn, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118

David Berger, an Israeli-born American, was a weight lifter from Shaker Heights, Ohio who was murdered with ten others in a terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic team during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. The sculpture was commissioned by a group of eight friends of the Berger family. The ten broken rings symbolize the break in the Olympic Games on September 6, 1972 when terrorists from the Black September movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization held eleven members of the Israeli team hostage. The upward motion of the broken rings symbolizes the peaceful ideals of the Olympic Games. The eleven separate slabs that the rings rest on represent the eleven athletes and coaches killed in the terrorist attack. One of the slabs is shaped differently from the others because it represents David Berger, the only American to die in the terrorist attack.

The sculpture is recognized by the United States Department of the Interior as a national historic monument. The inscription on a nearby plaque reads: COMMISSIONED 1973 BY/THE DAVID BERGER MONUMENT COMMITTEE/THE DAVID BERGER MONUMENT/SCULPTOR/DAVID E. DAVIS/COMP. 1975. IAS files contain related articles from the Sun Press, Oct. 23, 1975, pg. B8 and Aug. 9, 1984.

Treated 1997 August. Rol-Fab, Inc. (Garfield Heights, OH). Treatment report on file with the owner.

Campen, Richard N., "Outdoor Sculpture in Ohio," Chagrin Falls, Ohio: West Summit Press, 1980, pg. 98.

Brevard Art Center & Museum, "David E. Davis: New Sculpture, 1984-1988."

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Ohio, Cleveland survey, 1993.

SOS Conservation Notification Report, 1999.

Campen, Richard N., "Outdoor Sculpture in Ohio," Chagrin Falls, Ohio: West Summit Press, 1980, pg. 98.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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