The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape

by Brian Ladd

When the Bundestag decided, in 1991, to return the seat of government to Berlin, it was choosing the Reichstag as its future home. The venerable building would have to be renovated, but there was little agreement about how to adapt it to either the practical or the symbolic needs of the Federal Republic’s parliament. The Bundestag’s leaders fell back upon the favorite German solution of an architectural competition, passing the buck to a handful of talented architects. They displayed plenty of talent, but that was no substitute for decisions about what the Bundestag wanted. The competition jury divided its first prize among three spectacular but obviously impracticable designs by Santiago Calatrava, Pi de Bruijn, and Sir Norman Foster. In 1993, the Bundestag gave the commission to Foster with the understanding that the building’s appearance would not be fundamentally altered. The final design long remained uncertain, particularly the form of a new cupola (the old one had been gone since its dilapidated ruins were removed in 1954).