| Berlin Palace | |
|---|---|
Berliner Schloss | |
.JPG) The west and north façades of the reconstructed Berlin Palace. Completed in 2020, the palace now houses the Humboldt Forum museum. | |
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| General information | |
| Status | Rebuilt |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
| Location | Berlin (Mitte), Germany |
| Coordinates | 52°31′03″N 13°24′10″E / 52.51750°N 13.40278°E |
| Construction started | 1443 (original) 2013 (reconstruction) |
| Completed | 1894 (original) 2020 (reconstruction) |
| Demolished | Damaged by Allied bombing in 1945, demolished by East German authorities in 1950 |
| Client | |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) |
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The Berlin Palace (German: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (German: Königliches Schloss)[1] and also known as the City Palace (German: Stadtschloss),[2] is a large building adjacent to Berlin Cathedral and the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin. It was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of Frederick I of Prussia according to plans by Andreas Schlüter from 1689 to 1713, it was thereafter considered a major work of Prussian Baroque architecture.[3] The royal palace became one of Berlin’s largest buildings and shaped the cityscape with its 60-meter-high (200 ft) dome erected in 1845.
Used for various government functions after the abolition of the monarchy in the 1918 revolution, the palace was damaged during the Allied bombing in World War II, and was razed to the ground by the East German authorities in 1950. In the 1970s, the East German authorities erected a modernist parliament building on the site, known as the Palace of the Republic. After German reunification in 1990, and years of debate, particularly regarding the fraught historical legacy of both buildings, the Palace of the Republic was itself demolished in 2009.
Most of the Berlin Palace's exterior was reconstructed beginning in 2013 to house the Humboldt Forum museum. The east façade of the reconstructed palace incorporates a modernist design, while the new interior combines both historicist and modernist elements. Architect Franco Stella oversaw the project and the exterior reconstruction was completed in 2020, with the last decoration being mounted in 2023. The palace is now again among the largest in the world.
- ^ "Berliner Schloss – Die Hohenzollern-Fassade". Deutschlandfunk Kultur. 18 August 2021.
- ^ "Berliner Schloss". Die Geschichte Berlins (in German).
- ^ Georg Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Berlin. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-422-03111-1, p. 63. (German)