Palast als Beute? Alternativen nach dem Mauerfall

In the organizer's words:

After the fall of the Wall, it seems in retrospect, reunified Berlin was a paradise of opportunity and freedom. At the same time, it was a place where alliances were forged and strings were pulled - also in relation to the Palace of the Republic. Together with historian Hanno Hochmuth, presenter Marion Brasch outlines a time that has already become history. Theater director Amelie Deuflhard and urban planner Barbara Hoidn recall what they experienced, discussed and helped to shape back then.

What was it like after the GDR Council of Ministers closed the Palast der Republik on September 19, 1990 due to acute asbestos contamination? On October 3, 1990, the Palace became the property of the Federal Republic of Germany. Shortly afterwards, the Federal Ministry of Finance began to sell the technical equipment and furnishings or pass them on free of charge. It was not until 1997 that a conservation documentation process began. Until its demolition was completed in 2008, the palace was a ruin, a skater's hangout, a dispute and a backdrop, a "people's palace" and a field for experimentation. Who were the shakers & makers, who made the rules and shaped the narratives? What were the visions and illusions? Why was it exactly like this - and not otherwise?

PARTICIPANTS

Amelie Deuflhard, since 2007 director of Kampnagel - International Center for Fine Arts, 2000 to 2003 director of the Berlin Sophiensaele, 2001/02 chairwoman of the ZwischenPalastNutzung association, 2003/04 co-director with Matthias Lilienthal and Philipp Oswalt of the Volkspalast project.

Dr. Hanno Hochmuth, born 1977 in East Berlin, is a historian at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF) and teaches public history at the Free University of Berlin. Publications include Berlin. Das Rom der Zeitgeschichte (Berlin 2024); Stadtgeschichte als Zeitgeschichte. Berlin in the 20th Century (ed. with Paul Nolte, Göttingen 2019); Kiezgeschichte. Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg in Divided Berlin (Göttingen 2017).

Marion Brasch: Born in East Berlin in 1961. After graduating from high school, the trained typesetter worked in a print shop, for various publishing houses, for the GDR composers' association and for radio. Her debut novel Ab jetzt ist Ruhe was published in 2012 and was followed by three more novels and theater works. At the Palast der Republik theme days in October, she will be joining Albrecht Schuch for the evening Thomas Brasch - Bleiben will ich, wo ich nie gewesen bin on 5.10.2024 at 7 pm in Saal 1.

Barbara Hoidn: Self-employed as an architect and urban planner since 2001, she was involved in the discussions about the preservation of the palace in the 1990s through her work in a prominent and responsible position. She prepared the various early procedures for the site as part of her work for the Berlin Senate, including the series of events "Schloß-Palast-Haus Vaterland" (see also the publication of the same name in 1997 together with Barbara Jakubeit). These discussions also coincided with the relocation of the capital and the first appointment of a Commissioner for Culture and Media in the Chancellery, elevating the task to the status of a national debate. Their conclusion: the critical reconstruction of the city became the reconstruction of buildings and then of symbols.

- 5 EUR, reduced 2.50 EUR. Please book your ticket in advance online or at the ticket office in the foyer.

- from 16 years

- Language: German

- Location: Mechanical arena in the foyer

- Part of: ORTS event

- Belongs to: There and gone. The Palace of the Republic is present