Blown away - The Palace of the Republic

JUST WHAT DOES THE PALACE OF THE REPUBLIC MEAN TO US TODAY? The Palace of the Republic was the building that most exemplified political power in East Germany. The governmental and cultural centre was both the seat of the Volkskammer - the parliament and highest organ of East Germany's state power -, and a meeting place with an art gallery, theatre, large auditorium, restaurants, cafés, a disco, bowling alley, post office, and telephone booths. From 1976 until its controversial demolition in the mid-2000s, it stood on the very site in the centre of Berlin where the Humboldt Forum is today. With interviews, a wide range of essays and atmospheric images, this book takes a closer look at a vanished place so charged with both symbolism and personal memories that it remains present. -Famed and defamed, removed and remembered: the Berlin Palace of the Republic -Berlin between GDR past and present day -Talking about asbestos, Udo Lindenberg, utopia, and paranoia -The architectural icon and its meaning for us today in essays, interviews, and atmospheric images -Exhibition at the Humboldt Forum Berlin: 17 May 2024-16 February 2025 ASSEMBLE AND DISMANTLE: A POWERFUL REMINDER OF THE END OF THE GDR Even long after its disappearance, this site of collective remembrance brings questions to the surface about how we deal with the history of a formerly divided country. The book follows the various stages in the history of the building: from its planning and construction to its use as a multi-purpose governmental and cultural building, from its significance as the seat of the first freely elected Volkskammer in 1990 to its demolition, which was completed in 2008. Numerous interviews with a diverse range of people take centre stage. Prominent and previously unheard voices are featured: from architects and construction managers to creative professionals and visitors. The book shows the perspectives of those who worked in the palace, visited it, or deliberately avoided it. Furnishings,