Construction Construction of the Palace of the Republic () began in 1973, with a cost stated at 485 million
East German marks according to an internal list of
Wolfgang Junker, the Minister of Construction, although other estimates suggest about 800 million to 1 billion marks. It was built on the site of the
Berlin Palace (
Stadtschloss), The site was used as a
parade ground and
parking lot during the 1950s and 1960s until its designation as the location for a new building to seat the
Volkskammer, the
unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was provisionally seated at the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus at 58/59 Luisenstraße. Considered a sister building to the
Kulturpalast, the Palace of the Republic was designed by
Heinz Graffunder with a
facade of brown mirror-glass. The anti-elitist palace for the people housed theatres, art galleries, and cafes. The Communist elite was reduced to staging great celebrations and
banquets at the Palace of the Republic. The Building Academy of the GDR (
Bauakademie der DDR) approved of the design. It consisted of two massive outer blocks and a middle piece inserted between them, which together gave the building the shape of a
cuboid with a length of , a width of , and a height of which was based on that of the neighbouring buildings. The new building took up the eastern half of the plot while the western half was intended as a military parade ground, though tremors from the heavy vehicles were found to endanger the glass façade on the unstable grounds of
Museum Island. Instead, the western half was used mainly as a parking lot and military parades were moved to
Karl-Marx-Allee. In addition to housing the
Volkskammer, the palace was intended as a multiple-use structure influenced by the concepts of
Palaces of Culture and
People's Houses popular with socialist movements. Such cultural buildings were common not only in the Eastern Bloc, but examples can also be found in Belgium, France (
Centre Georges Pompidou), the Netherlands and Sweden (House of Culture in Stockholm). In the young Soviet Union in particular, cultural centers became symbols of the new state power. The palace contained a large
bowling alley at the lower level, from which the canal-side terrace along the
River Spree could be accessed, and featured
Brunswick lane equipment and a bar. The part of the palace open to the public featured numerous cameras for the surveillance of staff and visitors by Stasi officials. It was the first building in the GDR to feature a self-supporting steel skeleton and contained 5,000 tons of
asbestos used for
fire protection.
Seat of the Volkskammer , chief of the
Stasi, speaking on 25 March 1983 as the club president of
SV Dynamo who regularly held parties at the Palace of the Republic The palace was officially opened on 23 April 1976 and its facilities were opened to the public two days later. Numerous important cultural, political, academic, and social events of the German Democratic Republic occurred at the palace after its opening. Events were held in its Great Hall, a large hexagonal room some wide and high. The Great Hall was notable for its versatility; lifting devices under the floor allowed for a stage of variable height and size. The surface area of the stage could therefore range anywhere from , and the hall could seat between 1,000 and 4,500 attendants. Many editions of the GDR television entertainment program
Ein Kessel Buntes were recorded in the Great Hall. Concerts of famous orchestras such as the
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under
Kurt Masur, modern interpretations of classical music such as the
Messiah of
George Frideric Handel, and performances by
Bulat Okudzhava (29 November 1976),
Harry Belafonte (25 October 1983),
Karel Gott (1983), 1986 with
Dara Rolins and
Heidi Janků, 1987) or of the rock-band
Purple Schulz (21 January 1989). German electronic music group
Tangerine Dream performed a concert recorded live at the palace on 31 January 1980 which also was
Johannes Schmoelling's first live performance with the band.
Erich Honecker,
Willi Stoph and other members of the
Central Committee were in attendance. The concert was unique in that Tangerine Dream was the first Western group who was allowed by the GDR government to play in East Berlin at the time and was dubbed "the performance behind the
Iron Curtain". An album of this recorded concert was released titled
Quichotte on East German record label Amiga, and later released to the rest of the world on
Virgin Records six years later and renamed
Pergamon. In October 1983, the West German rock star
Udo Lindenberg was permitted to perform in concert at the palace. At the concert, Lindenberg did not sing one of his best-known songs, "
Sonderzug nach Pankow" ("Special Train to Pankow"), which satirized East German leader
Erich Honecker, as he was ordered not to play it under threat of arrest and imprisonment by the
Stasi. Additionally, in April 1987, American
Latin rock band
Santana performed two concerts here. The
Socialist Unity Party (SED), the ruling party of the GDR, held party congresses at the palace and a state gala was held on the eve of the 40th (and final) anniversary of the GDR in October 1989, at which Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev was present. During the night of 22–23 August 1990, the
Volkskammer decided in the palace on the accession of the GDR to the
Federal Republic of Germany with effect from 3 October 1990, known as
German reunification. The palace had many nicknames in the
Springer press in West Berlin and among East German citizens, such as "Palazzo Prozzo" (a wordplay, as 'protzen' means 'to show off ostentatiously') or "Erichs Lampenladen" (
Erich Honecker's lamp shop - a pun on the many tall chandeliers inside it). "Ballast der Republik" (Ballast having the same meaning as in English - burden) was popular as well.
Closure and demolition The palace was closed to the public on 19 September 1990 by decree of the
Volkskammer when it was found to be
contaminated by asbestos, only two weeks before the accession date. On 2 October 1990, the
Volkskammer was dissolved and the palace became vacant. By 2003, the asbestos was considered to have been removed along with internal and external fittings allowing either safe reconstruction or safe deconstruction, and the shell of the building was opened for visitors in mid-2003. In November 2003, the
Bundestag decided to demolish the palace and reconstruct the Berlin Palace, leaving the area as parkland until funding could be found. The majority of former East Germans opposed the demolition and various protests were held by people who felt the building was an integral part of Berlin's culture and the historic process of the German reunification. Beginning in early 2004, the palace was used for events, such as housing an exhibition of the
Terracotta Army and a special concert by the famous Berlin-based band
Einstürzende Neubauten. Afterward, the palace fell into disuse and disrepair. Demolition started on 6 February 2006, and was scheduled to last about 15 months at a cost of €12 million; however, the demolition was delayed after more asbestos was discovered in various locations, and the estimated completion date was pushed back to the end of 2008. About 35,000 tonnes of steel which once held the building together were shipped to the
United Arab Emirates to be used for the construction of the
Burj Khalifa. Although the original structure in Berlin has been demolished, its sister building, the
Kulturpalast in
Dresden, is still intact and currently used as a symphony orchestra hall.
Berlin Palace reconstruction In January 2006, about two years after the Bundestag decided for the rebuilding of the Berlin Palace, a second definitive vote re-approved the plans. It was decided three of its sides would be exact replicas of the original, but the fourth side and interior would be modern. Called the
Humboldtforum, the rebuilt palace houses the
Humboldt collection and gallery of non-European art. In November 2008, the Italian architect Francesco Stella was chosen for the project. Reconstruction began in 2015 The building was opened to the public in 2021. Some items from the Palace of the Republic are on display, such as globe chandeliers and an original sign. == Artworks ==