Palace of the Republic (Berlin)

The Palace of the Republic (German: Palast der Republik) was a building, now demolished, that was located in the German city of Berlin, then in the 'East Berlin' area, located on the Schlossplatz or Palace Square, on the banks of the Spree River.

The building was built between 1973 and 1976, and between 1976 and 1990 it was the headquarters of the Volkskammer, or "Chamber of the People", the parliament of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Around 2008, the authorities of the reunified Germany demolished the building to begin the reconstruction of the former Royal Palace of Berlin, whose work began in 2013 and was completed in December 2020.

History

During the GDR

It was built in the early 1970s in the typical style of the time, with mirrored bronze windows, in 1976 it became the seat of the House of the People (Volkskammer), the parliament of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was located in what was then called Marx-Engels-Platz. The building was not only used for administrative or Volkskammer-related matters, as it also housed 13 restaurants, several art galleries, a bowling alley, a nightclub and a theater.

It was built where the Royal Palace of Berlin once stood, damaged during the Second World War and demolished in 1950 by the GDR authorities, considering it a symbol of Prussian imperialism. Some East Germans called the Palace of the Republic, in humorous form, Ballast der Republik ("Ballast of the Republic"), Erichs Lampenladen ("Erich's Lamp Shop"), in reference to the leader of the GDR Erich Honecker and the 1,001 ceiling lamps, or Palazzo Prozzo.

On the night of August 22 to 23, 1990, the Volkskammer voted for the union of the GDR with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), which would take place on October 3 of that same year. anus. From then on the political functions of the building ended.

Dismantling and reconstruction of the Royal Palace

The first public debates about the need to rebuild the Royal Palace arose in 1991 within the framework of the new identity that the reunified Germany would have and the reconstruction of its ancient monuments. Starting in 1992, the German aristocrat and businessman Wilhelm von Boddien founded an association in order to exert pressure and promote the reconstruction of the Royal Palace. The campaign of Wilhelm and his supporters reached its peak between 1993 and 1994, under the motto of rescue an important element of German history.

Just before German reunification, in 1990, it was announced that the building was contaminated by asbestos, so in 1998 a specialized company was hired to decontaminate it. The cost of the cleanup was estimated at 35 million euros and everything inside the building was removed; remaining empty.

By 2003 it was announced that all asbestos had been removed and the building was undergoing restoration work. It was later opened to the public during the summer of 2003; Since 2004 it has been used for temporary events of this nature, such as an exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors.

In November of that same year the Bundestag officially decided to proceed with the demolition of the building, after which there were protests by some Berlin citizens and personalities who opposed the demolition and emphasized its value historical. At the time this decision was made both demolition and restoration were possible.

Despite the fact that several movements fought for its conservation, their ranks included personalities from the artistic environment such as the protagonist of the film Good Bye, Lenin!, Daniel Brühl, and the actress of German origin Sandra Bullock; On January 19, 2006, the Bundestag confirmed the demolition project. The Petitions Committee of the Bundestag rejected a total of 880 objections against the measure and a request for an extension presented by the Left Party and the Greens.

The demolition process began in December 2005 and ended in December 2008, in the process a new controversy arose again, since new remains of asbestos were found on the site, which increased the costs of the works and its duration. The dismantling of the Palace of the Republic had an approximate cost of 119 million euros. It was carried out with extreme care, due to the proximity of the historic Berlin Cathedral, so that the Palace was dismantled piece by piece, in the reverse order in which it was built.

The reconstruction of the Royal Palace was estimated at 590 million euros, meanwhile the land where the Palace of the Republic was converted into a green space. In 2008 the funds needed to rebuild the Royal Palace were cut as part of austerity measures due to the economic crisis. In June 2013, construction work began again on the building renamed the Humboldt Forum, financed exclusively by donations collected by Wilhelm von Boddien and estimating the completion of the project for 2019.

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