Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
buildings to be demolished after the
Wende
. It was replaced by a grassy field with
a rather lost-looking statue of Schinkel in the middle, but there are proposals to
rebuild. As an advertisement and incentive, a corner section of the building has been
reconstructed on its original site. he rest of the building has been recreated using
scaffolding, wrapped in a canvas facade - in an attempt to stimulate enthusiasm and
raise funds for reconstruction.
Foreign Ministry
Behind the Bauakademie and beside the River Spree lies the heavily guarded
Foreign
Ministry
. he structure, though massive, projects an unassuming aspect by means of its
plain glass facade, through which you can see a serene covered courtyard complete with
trees and fountain. It illustrates one answer to a common problem facing architects for
the new German capital: how to create large and significant civic buildings while
avoiding any hints of Nazi monumentalism? A good example of the latter, and now
also occupied by the Foreign O
ce, lies directly behind: the immense and imposing
Central Bank
built between 1934 and 1938. Having survived the war, it became the
SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) headquarters and thus the nerve centre of the
East German Communist party.
