That is an absolute travesty that such a gorgeous looking building was destroyed ( essentially) on a lie , as you say the asbestos was removed and the building was an empty shell , so short sighted of the authorities back then , this is what happens when you look through the prism of ( Stasi , die Mauer , etc etc ) , in my opinion that building could ( in the correct circumstances) pulled in thousands of visitors each year , very sad 😔. Great article Katja 😀👍👍
Thank you for this clear explanation of what happened to the Palast der Republik. Though I'm not particularly a fan of mid-century modern architecture and I understand the asbestos issue, I think it was a crime to entirely demolish the old building and erect a strange hybrid of a mock Prussian palace and a bland office building in its place. And the fact that steel from the "People's Palace" was used to build the Burj Khalifa of all things - the ultimate symbol of elitism and capitalism, constructed under terrible human rights conditions - just adds massive insult to injury. What a strange, sad tale in Berlin's archictectural and social history.
Although DDR did build many brutal looking buildings which could never be described as pretty i think the Palace of the Republic did stand apart in that the glass and concrete plus unfortunately asbestos gave a certain gravitas, it really should have been used differently or repurposed and definitely not replaced with what a certain king would describe as a carbunkle .I do wonder how close the vote to demolish it was and were there any other major DDR buildings that got erased from history 🤔 Thoughtful piece
The asbestos was just a pretext. Undisturbed, unbroken asbestos can be safely contained and I am sure the triumphant BRD could have found away to deal with it, short of demolishing the building. What better venue to tell the history of the DDR and reunification? It could also have been a useful tool to tell the story of Seventies architecture and interior design. When I see pictures of it I am reminded of the look of the film Logan’s Run. Its replacement, the Humboldt Forum is neither one thing nor the other. They could have replaced it. with an architectural statement building, a must see construction. They didn’t. I have seen the ruins of the imperial palace in the basement, worth visiting. Interesting read on Sunday morning Katja.
Very informative. It was featured in the Channel 4 documentary on the DDR in the 1980s which followed the election of a young construction worker to the 'Parliament', his attendance there and his report back to his fellow workers. All rather staged, but of interest.
That is an absolute travesty that such a gorgeous looking building was destroyed ( essentially) on a lie , as you say the asbestos was removed and the building was an empty shell , so short sighted of the authorities back then , this is what happens when you look through the prism of ( Stasi , die Mauer , etc etc ) , in my opinion that building could ( in the correct circumstances) pulled in thousands of visitors each year , very sad 😔. Great article Katja 😀👍👍
Thank you for this clear explanation of what happened to the Palast der Republik. Though I'm not particularly a fan of mid-century modern architecture and I understand the asbestos issue, I think it was a crime to entirely demolish the old building and erect a strange hybrid of a mock Prussian palace and a bland office building in its place. And the fact that steel from the "People's Palace" was used to build the Burj Khalifa of all things - the ultimate symbol of elitism and capitalism, constructed under terrible human rights conditions - just adds massive insult to injury. What a strange, sad tale in Berlin's archictectural and social history.
Although DDR did build many brutal looking buildings which could never be described as pretty i think the Palace of the Republic did stand apart in that the glass and concrete plus unfortunately asbestos gave a certain gravitas, it really should have been used differently or repurposed and definitely not replaced with what a certain king would describe as a carbunkle .I do wonder how close the vote to demolish it was and were there any other major DDR buildings that got erased from history 🤔 Thoughtful piece
The asbestos was just a pretext. Undisturbed, unbroken asbestos can be safely contained and I am sure the triumphant BRD could have found away to deal with it, short of demolishing the building. What better venue to tell the history of the DDR and reunification? It could also have been a useful tool to tell the story of Seventies architecture and interior design. When I see pictures of it I am reminded of the look of the film Logan’s Run. Its replacement, the Humboldt Forum is neither one thing nor the other. They could have replaced it. with an architectural statement building, a must see construction. They didn’t. I have seen the ruins of the imperial palace in the basement, worth visiting. Interesting read on Sunday morning Katja.
One should never "erase" history.
That would be a good exam question! 'Discuss'.
Wouldn't be a short answer…..
History teaches us that we should be wary of anything that is prefaced with the word ‘People’s’……
People’s Republic - always dictatorships
People’s Army - tool for dictators
People’s Vote - an affront to democracy
People’s Car - a complete scam
Very informative. It was featured in the Channel 4 documentary on the DDR in the 1980s which followed the election of a young construction worker to the 'Parliament', his attendance there and his report back to his fellow workers. All rather staged, but of interest.
That doc would be good to watch now , I’ll take a look on YouTube 👍