The Palast der Republik was a showpiece building in East Berlin, a congress hall as well as a center for public entertainment. By 1993 it had been sealed off to the public. Thorsten Klapsch was the last photographer to capture its interiors before a long period of demolition began. — Der Spiegel
9 Comments
that is one cool building. those lights! and buttons!
breathtakingly awesome. so sterile and ruthlessly lit. such guts.
love it. i think i have some pictures of my own of this building, ca 1990.
steven if you can find them would you post one or two?
I love those globe light fixtures!
Ah, that brings back childhood memories!
It's interesting how the exact same design elements were reused (incl. the globe light fixtures) over and over - in various combination and scale - in culture centers, schools, offices, restaurants throughout the German Democratic Republic.
such a fantastic building - design and how it relates to time, culture, society, politics...all in there...
BONUS -> cool posters of berluc and costa cordalis !!!FREE INSIDE!!!
reminds me of the swedish film "songs from the second floor"
Amazing photos -- very excited to see this, after witnessing the pathetic and depressing way in which the building has been demolished since (well, I saw it in 2008). I know there were hopes to re-use the building, or parts of it, even temporarily, but I don't think anything ever came of it (anybody know more?). Instead, Berlin will wash its hands, and streets, of this episode in bureaucratic hegemony.
It certainly doesn't help that there were hopes to rebuild a replica of what was there before, in its place... shows the kitschy impulse behind its destruction. I would love to hear more about what the current plans are for this site in Berlin (haven't kept up with it recently).
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