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Blown Away: the Palace of the Republic

  • Highlights
Loved and hated, admired and reviled, disappeared and yet not forgotten: Where the Humboldt Forum is located today, the Palace of the Republic once stood. It was the seat of the People's Chamber and a place of representation for the GDR, but also a site of official and everyday culture with modern design and contemporary artworks, 13 restaurants and cafés, a discotheque and a bowling alley. It is still present in the consciousness of many people today.

In March 1990, the first freely elected Volkskammer (People's Chamber) was constituted in the Palace of the Republic in Berlin, and it was there that the GDR decided to join the Federal Republic.
This marked the end of the Palace of the Republic's GDR history, and a few days later it was closed by the Berlin magistrate because of asbestos contamination. In 2002, the decision was made to "deconstruct" it.

What for some was the liberation from a representative building of the GDR's unjust state, others perceived as the erasure of history and the devaluation of East German biographies.


The Palace of the Republic is virtually inscribed in the DNA of the Humboldt Forum: It is founded on part of the palace's concrete basin, and according to the foundation's statutes, dealing with the history of the site from the Middle Ages to the present is one of the Humboldt Forum's central tasks.

Since 2014, the staff has been collecting, researching, publishing, and curating about the Palace of the Republic and establishing an ever-growing network. The growing collection includes essential parts of the interior design.
Twelve key objects can be seen as permanent "traces" in various parts of the building; the Palace of the Republic plays a central role in the permanent exhibition area "Videopanorama". Exhibitions, events and publications have already illuminated it from different perspectives.


Program for the exhibition

The Palace of the Republic is an occasion to ask about power and participation and to discuss the significance of symbol-political, identity-creating places in the present - a question of great topicality.

A diverse program opens up the thematic field chronologically. It deals with the architecture and use from 1973 to 1989, with the period of upheaval in 1989/90, the Schlossplatz debate and interim use until the demolition in 2008, and finally with the place of remembrance and current discussions.

Guided tours present objects from the history of the Palace of the Republic, provide insights into work processes and backgrounds, and tell personal stories.

Events and performances, installations and calls, discussion cafés and publications involve the public and contemporary witnesses and give the opportunity to get to know the different facets of the Palace of the Republic.

- more information to follow
- Language: German / English
- Location: Special exhibition area
- Duration: 16.05.2024-16.02.2025


Kalender

  • 01 Jun

    10:30 o'clock

  • 09 Jun

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1700442001