A New (Old) Palace for Berlin

After 12 years of heated debate, Germany’s parliament has decided to tear down East Germany’s former parliament building and rebuild the huge Baroque palace that once stood on this prominent site in central Berlin.

On Thursday night, 384 of the 589 members of parliament backed the plan to recreate the 600-room 19th century palace. Built as the home for the Hollenzollern royal family in 1845, the city palace housed Germany’s last Kaiser until he was exiled after World War I. The building was then destroyed by East German Communist leader Walter Ulbricht in 1950.

Architects, politicians and active Berlin citizens have argued for years about whether reconstructing this historical building would glorify a militarist past and create a sort of Prussian Disneyland.

"People do not relate to the Baroque style anymore. We would be building Disneyland fascades," said Social Democrat member of parliament Horst Kubatschka.

Various Options Considered

Earlier this year, a special advisory commission recommended the reconstruction of the historical palace, but said the more modern eastern wall of the so-called Palace of the Republic should remain. This option was favored over a proposal backed by the Social Democrats and Greens that called for an open competition in which architects would offer their own models for the site.

The Bundestag, however, has decided to tear down the copper-colored glass and steel building, which was built in 1975 and has stood empty for years because of asbestos problems.

"The disgraceful cultural vandalism of Ulbricht’s group must be rectified," said Christoph Stölzl, head of Berlin’s Christian Democrats and the city’s former culture senator. "We have never said the palace should be rebuilt so that the monarchy can come back."

The most pressing question in the wake of the Bundestag’s decision is how to finance the project. Cost estimates for the reconstruction range from 670 million euro ($652 million) to 770 million euro ($750 million). The Berlin city government has already said that at least through 2006, it has no money to contribute.

Corporations Support Palace Plan

Prior to the Bundestag vote, two large German companies – Allianz and Deutsche Bank – signaled their willingness to contribute to the reconstruction fund set up by Hamburg businessman Wilhelm von Boddien to raise private donations for the project. But the companies said they would only contribute if the historical palace was to be rebuilt, and not if the Bundestag decided on an architectural competition.

After more than a decade of discussion, von Boddien was ready to start his fund-raising campaign immediately after Thursday's vote. On Friday, he started an ad campaign in five of Germany’s largest newspapers aimed at attracting investors for the project.

The president of Germany’s architectural department, Peter Conradi, reacted strongly to the vote, calling it "cowardly and timid, just like German politics."

In any case, it will still be years before the project gets off the ground. Estimates call for construction to begin in 2005 or 2006, with the building being finished in 2010. The rebuilt palace will house an art museum and library.