August 2003 - Nr. 8
East German Palace opens Gates again
TWIG - The boxy, copper-colored "Palace of the Republic" left over from the East German regime and scheduled for demolition is suddenly a hot ticket in Germany’s capital city.
The Palace, known as an entertainment showcase to one-time residents of East Berlin but regarded as an architectural monstrosity to many in the city’s western districts, recently opened its gates for three weeks of guided tours. Most available slots already sold out, according to organizers.
The former seat of East Germany’s parliament, the Palace also housed theaters, bars, restaurants and even a bowling alley - making it one of the city’s most popular meeting places.
Closed for asbestos removal shortly after reunification, the gutted Palace is now open to the public for the first time in 13 years. Nostalgic former East Berliners quickly snapped up tickets for the 70 tours set to take place over the next three weeks.
Completed in 1976, the Palace occupies a prominent site on Unter den Linden, Berlin’s main East-West axis and a showcase for some of the city’s most stately Baroque architecture.
After a lengthy and sometimes emotional debate, plans to keep the Palace intact as a monument to its communist past were defeated, and it is now due to be razed to make way for the reconstruction of the so-called Berlin city palace, a Baroque edifice that once stood on the site.
Home to the last German Kaiser, the Berlin city palace had been severely damaged by fire in 1945, but was later completely demolished by East Berlin’s communist regime to make way for its Palace of the Republic.
With the East German Palace due to be demolished in three year’s time, artists are lining up to use it as a performance space in the meantime.
Opera director Christian von Borries, known for seeking out what he calls "contaminated sites" for performances, hopes to stage several Wagner operas there. Berlin’s Staatsoper and the city’s Technical Museum also have plans to use the palace in the works.
All in all, over 200 organizations - from popular nightclubs to an international fashion fair - have expressed interest in using the space, according to a group representing potential Palace users.
