Talk:Palast der Republik

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Contents 1 Pictures of the Palace in its heyday 2 Demolition date 3 Demolition? 4 Why demolish it? 5 Update? 6 Feelings of the German people?

[edit] Pictures of the Palace in its heyday

Looking back over the article, it's very disappointing that there are no pictures of Palace in its heyday, in the 70s and 80s, especially when there are pictures out there, both in the public domain, in books, etc. The current pictures stem from the 'demolition' era, and make people forget what an imposing (and some may say, exquisite) building that it used to be.

It needs to be remembered that the Palace was a people's palace, an entertainment and social venue, where people would go to have a good time, to have a meal out, etc, not just a parliament building. This is part of the history of the building, and needs to be remembered.

Would anyone be able to help with this?? In the meantime, I'll put a link with some pics of the Palace during its lifetime on the link list (RM21 01:18, 27 June 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Demolition date

I've read that the demolition of the "people's palace" is due to commence in Feb 2005 but the webcam shows it still standing. Has it had a late repreive? Anyone know the latest?

The German article seems to say it keeps being postponed. It says December 2005 is the current date to start the demolition (but doesn't say when that was written). Secretlondon 01:02, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

* See Ray Furlong's report on the BBC web site [1]. It's still disused, but still standing. Its fate still not decided. JanesDaddy 16:33, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

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[edit] Demolition?

This article says definitively that the Palast is being demolished. I was in Berlin in May and the signage on the Palast site quite clearly says that the building is being dismantled (to get rid of the asbestos), not demolished, and that a "democratic decision" on the Palast's future is still to be made. Can someone clarify this? Is there a conflict between the City of Berlin and the Federal Government? Adam 05:16, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why demolish it?

The article should explicitly state the reasons or motivations for dismantling the building. After reading the article, I was just puzzled. What is really going on here? Why go to the trouble of removing the insulation only to destroy the building afterwards?

Is it because the building is ugly? Why do people say it's ugly? Is it because it's a symbol of communism? The article assumes I know what the motivation is, but I can only speculate. Canadiana 23:44, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

There are many reasons: aesthetics, structural issues, etc. Also, the city wants to restore the Schlossplatz to include the old Prussian palace which occupied the site for centuries and which was torn down for no reason other than to make a statement. The same can be argued for now, but the current building is really, really ugly. The insulation has to be removed because it contains asbestos, which is a hazardous, cancer-causing particle that gets trapped in the lungs. Just tearing the building down would send it through the air. Charles 23:47, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

• That's only the partial story. In September 1990, the Palace was closed to the public - because the authorities were already aware of the presence of asbestos, and did not wish to expose the public to it any longer. Thus, after the Volkskammer had sat for their final session, the building was decommissioned over the next five or so years - which allowed it to become slightly rundown.

It must be remembered that the Palace was an extremely visible symbol of the East German regime, and this was felt by the Federal Government to be deeply embarrassing - both to the German nation, and the German people; by the same token, it was also offensive, as it was a reminder of a regime which had killed those who had tried to escape to the west.

The consequence of this, is that when asbestos treatment began in 1998, it was no longer felt that there was any reason to preserve the internal fabric of the building, so the luxurious interiors were simply stripped out (some people may feel they had become dated, in any case). By the early 2000s, all that was left was a shell of the former building, and just not worth renewing. Demolition was now inevitable. However, the use of €100.000.000.000's in future public subsidies for the Schloss rebuilding - for a building which doesn't even exist any more is also very controversial. (RM21 02:38, 21 November 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Update?

"Demolition started on 6 February 2006 and is scheduled to last about 15 months." So, why is the framework still standing 17 months later? All you have to do is look at the German entry:

Nachdem im Laufe der Arbeiten an mehreren Stellen neues Asbest gefunden wurde und sich der Abriss dadurch stark verlangsamte, wird mit Ende 2008 als frühestes Ende kalkuliert.

I'll update the English entry. Sca 17:15, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Feelings of the German people?

"Despite strong resentment from a major population of Germans" - Please name source. It could be said from any group that it is a 'major population' - this has a whiff of POV, moreover. User:ilja.nieuwland 9:45, 21 May 2008 (GMT)