A Democratic Decision

About the Film

Palace of the Republic

Today, an expanse of open field stretches where the Palace of the Republic once stood. In these times of global warming, an oasis of green in the center of the concrete jungle would have raised the quality of urban living in the capital city. But politics and politicians aren't very interested in ecology and the quality of life. The Berlin Republic tore down the palace of the German Democratic Republic so it could rebuild an old city castle, which itself was torn down in 1950 at the behest of the East Germany's regime. The aim of both demolitions was to symbolically obliterate the rival – town planning used as an avenue for revenge. At least that's what some of Berlin's residents believe. This type of victor's power play is a familiar tactic from centuries past: raze the castles and towns of those defeated in battle.

Demolition of the gigantic GDR palace

This film uses the benefit of hindsight to look again at the controversy surrounding the demolition of the gigantic GDR palace. Although most critics consider it to be an exceedingly unattractive example of 1970's architecture, the Palace brings back highly positive memories to its former visitors and occupants. But the discussion about the building, its demolition and replacement, really had very little to do with aesthetics. It had more to do with the national identity of ex-GDR citizens and a desire to replace the recent past with symbols from the city's long lost past. Inter-generational conflicts come into play as well, as do differing opinions about how the rooms beyond the facade will be used in the future. The film raises the question: to whom, in the end, does the city belong? And do the city's inhabitants have the right to participate in its urban planning.

Castles in the air

The lobbyists in favor of demolishing the Palace argued for the reconstruction of a long forgotten city castle ; a 'back to the future' paradigm based on historicized Disneyland facades. This insistent, backward-looking stance effectively squashed any discussion of replacing the ugly torn down building with some modern, forward-looking architecture. The Hamburg aristocrat Wilhelm von Boddien and his eloquent petitioning for the reconstruction of the Prussian castle must be credited here. Boddien (whose own business went bankrupt in 2004) promises to raise 80 million € for rebuidling The total cost of the dream castle was already estimated in 2007 to top 550 million, and it is very unlikely that the costs will remain that low. In any event, Herr Boddien won't be forced into bankruptcy again for this.
Although the multi-faceted discussions were carried out on a variety of levels in the end, the democratically elected politician caste exercised their authority. These are the politicians who cut spending on the poor to pump millions of dollars into banks, and are the ones who will use public taxes to finance the rebuilding of an emperor-era castle. Long before construction starts on this dream palace, it has already mutated into a symbol of social injustice.