Restoring Berlin's Unter den Linden: Ideology, world view, place and space

Journal of Historical Geography

Volumn 32, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 352-376

  Stangl, Paul ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA   (United States)

Author keywords

Berlin; Identity politics; Urban landscape

Indexed keywords

ARCHITECTURE; IDEOLOGY; POLICY DEVELOPMENT; URBAN AREA;

BERLIN; CENTRAL EUROPE; EURASIA; EUROPE; GERMANY;

EID: 33644962828     PISSN: 03057488     EISSN: 10958614     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2005.08.003     Document Type: Article

References (174)

1. See D. Atkinson D. Cosgrove Urban rhetoric and embodied identities: city, nation, and empire at the Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88 1 1998 28-49
2. M. Azaryahu German reunification and the politics of street names: The case of East Berlin Political Geography 16 6 1997 479-493
3. J. Bell Redefining national identity in Uzbekistan: Symbolic tensions in Tashkent's official public landscape Ecumene 6 2 1999 183-213
4. D. Light Street names in Bucharest, 1990-1997: Exploring the modern historical geographies of post-socialist change Journal of Historical Geography 30 1 2004 154-172
5. S. Daniels, Fields of Vision: Landscape Imagery and National Identity in England and the United States, Oxford, 1993;
6. K. Foote A. Tóth A. Árvay Hungary after 1989: Inscribing a new past on place Geographical Review 90 3 2000 301-334
7. N. Johnson Cast in stone: Monuments, geography, and nationalism Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 13 1 2000 51-65
8. D. Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country, Cambridge and New York, 1985;
9. D. Sidorov National monumentalization and the politics of scale: The resurrection of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow Annals of Association of American Geographers 90 3 2000 548-572
10. Foote, Tóth and Árvay, Hungary after 1989: Inscribing a new past on place, 306. The following is a selection of literature in these areas: G. Hartman (Ed.), Holocaust Remembrance: The Shapes of Memory, Oxford, 1994;
11. S. Helmer, Hitler's Berlin: The Speer Plans for Reshaping the Central City, Ann Arbor, MI, 1985;
12. C. Koonz, Between memory and oblivion: Concentration camps in German memory, in: J. Gillis (Ed.), Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity, Princeton, 1994, 258-280;
13. B. Lane, Architecture and Politics in Germany, 1918-1945, Cambridge, MA, 1968;
14. B. Ladd, The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape, Chicago, 1997;
15. Pugvogel and M. Stankowski, Gedenkstätten für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus: Eine Dokumentation, Bonn, 1995;
16. R. Taylor, The Word in Stone: The Role of Architecture in National Socialist Ideology, Berkeley, 1974
17. J. Young, The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning, New Haven, 1993.
18. See M. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor: Ein deustches Symbol, Berlin, 1999;
19. L. Demps, Berlin-Wilhelmstrasse: Eine Topographie preussisch-deutscher Macht, Berlin, 1996;
20. W. Durth, J. Düwel and N. Gutschow, Ostkreuz: Personen, Plänen und Perspektiven, Vol. 1, Architectur und Städtebau in der DDR, Frankfurt/New York, 1998;
21. W. Durth, J. Düwel and N. Gutschow, Aufbau: Städte, Themen, Dokumente, Vol. 2, Architektur und Städtebau in der DDR, Frankfurt/ New York, 1998;
22. B. Flierl, Gebaute DDR: Über Stadtplaner, Architekten und die Macht, Berlin, 1998;
23. S. Hain, 'Reise nach Moskau', Berlin, 1995
24. S. Hain, 'Reise nach Moskau', Berlin, 1995
25. R. Müller, Das Berliner Zeughaus: Die Baugeschichte, Berlin, 1994;
26. H. Nicolaus and A. Obeth, Die Stalinallee: Geschichte einer deutschen Strasse, Berlin, 1997;
27. R. Petras, Das Schloss in Berlin: Von der Revolution 1918 bis zur Vernichtung 1950, Berlin, 1999;
28. C. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden: Ein Deutsches Denkmal in Wandel der Geschichte, Berlin, 1993.
29. For a noteworthy English language article in this vein see K. Till Staging the past: Landscape designs, cultural identity and Erinnerungspolitik at Berlin's Neue Wache Ecumene 6 3 1999 251-283
30. R. Koshar, Germany's Transient Pasts: Preservation and National Memory in the Twentieth Century, Chapel Hill and London, 1998.
31. A. Hillgruber, Deutsche Geschichte 1945-1986: Die 'deutsche Frage' in der Weltpolitik, Stuttgart, 1983.
32. G. Kotowski, Geschichte Berlins seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, in: G. Langguth (Ed.), Berlin vom Brennpunkt der Teilung zur Brücke der Einheit, Cologne, 1990, 48-69. 48-69
33. See Hillgruber, Langguth and C. Klessmann, Die doppelte Staatsgründung: Deutsche Geschichte 1945-1955, Bonn, 1991;
34. H. Lehmann, Deutschland-Chronik 1945 bis 1995, Bonn, 1995.
35. R. Paulick Die künstlerische Probleme des Wiederaufbaues der Deutschen Staatsoper Unter den Linden Deutsche Architektur 1 1952 36
36. Though the palace was ultimately demolished, its treatment in the post-war era parallels that of the historic buildings on Unter den Linden. In the immediate post-war years, German communists directly confronted and obstructed attempts by planners and preservationists to obtain minimal funding for provisional repairs to the structure. The SMAD intervened in 1947 to renovate a portion of the building as office and exhibition space. The course of the palace radically diverged from Unter den Linden after the founding of the GDR, when Ulbricht declared the building a ruin and ordered its demolition, ignoring the socialist-realist imperative of preserving national cultural heritage and the objections of other communists officials, in order to create a large square in the 'political center' of the city for state-run parades. Although the need for such a space is indicated in socialist-realist theory, it could have been established without demolishing the palace.
37. See P. Stangl, East Berlin 1945-1961: Ideology, politics, identity and the urban landscape, Ph.D. diss., Austin, 2001, 339-391.
38. G. Minerwin Die Leninistische Theorie der Wiederspiegelung und die Fragen der Theorie der sozialistische Realismus Deutsche Architektur 4 1953 198-201
39. According to Marxist-Leninism, capitalist nations suffer from severe internal class conflicts and relate to each other in competitive, combative and oppressive ways. Socialist nations would increasingly overcome internal discord and relate to each other according to the principles of proletarian internationalism. The transition into communism, would result in the emergence of an international community of socialist nations with equal rights. Only under communism, would the increasing rapproachment of nations, in the long-term, lead to their fusion in a gradual process. Attempts to force this transformation would be counter-productive, thus for the post-war era in Eastern Europe, a complimentary existence of nationalism and internationalism was in order, with precedence given to the former
40. W. Böhme et al., Kleines politisches Wörterbuch, Berlin, 1978, 597-603.
41. K. Liebknecht Deutsche Architektur Deutsche Architektur 1 1952 46-47
42. Münter and Flierl to Kurt Liebknecht, President of Deutsche Bauakademie, 27 April 1954, Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganizationen der DDR im Bundesarchiv (hereafter SAPMO-BA), DH2(IV)I/22, Berlin.
43. This method of semantically transforming historical sites is evident in each of the case studies in this paper. For example, the Arsenal, which had been a military museum and was intended to become a museum of culture: Its 'theme' as a museum endured, but the new societal 'idea' was to display non-militaristic culture.
44. Hain, Reise nach Moskau, 9-10.
45. Although German nationalism remained taboo in the first years immediately after the Second World War, by 1948 it had been fully instrumentalized in Soviet Zone press. This assessment is based on my own review of press accounts of political ceremonies and rallies in the Soviet Zone newspapers Berliner Zeitung, Neues Deutschland and Tägliche Rundschau.
46. L. Bolz, Notes from consultation with Otto Grohtewohl, SAPMO-BA, DH1/ 44475.
47. Politburo der Zentralkomitees der Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (hereafter Politburo), Plan des Neuaufbaus von Berlin, 15 August 1950, reprinted in Durth, Düwel and Gutschow, Vol. 2, 220-222.
48. K. Brockenschmidt, Notes on meeting with Soviet Control Commission, 9 October 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH2 (K1) A/47.
49. L. Bolz to Otto Grotewohl, Prime Minister of the GDR, 16 November 1950, SAPMO-BA, FBS, 123/16322.
50. L. Bolz to Friedrich Ebert, Mayor of Berlin, 4 December 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 39206.
51. Planungskomission Berlin (hereafter PkB), 12 January 1951, Minutes from meeting, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927.
52. Wettbewerb Zentrale Achse, 14 August 1951, reprinted in Durth, Düwel and Gutschow, Vol. 2, 231-233.
53. H. Bodenschatz, H. Engstfeld and C. Seifert, Berlin: Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenem Zentrum, Hamburg, 1995, 126-127
54. For comparison with other examples of Renaissance urban design see A. Morris, History of Urban Form: Prehistory to Renaissance, London, 1972, 161-163.
55. W. Volk, Historische Strassen und Plätze heute: Berlin, Haupstadt der DDR, Berlin, 1980, 9-11, 17
56. M. Wörner, D. Mollenschott and K. Hüter Architekturführer Berlin Berlin 1997 25
57. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 17-20.
58. Bodenschatz, Engstfeld and Seifert, Berlin, 133
59. Volk, Historische Strassen, 19-21.
60. Bodenschatz, Engstfeld and Seifert, Berlin,.
61. Volk, Historische Strassen, 32.
62. Berlin Magistrat, Resolution, 7 July 1947, Landesarchiv Berlin (hereafter LAB), 100/793.
63. G. Kiederling, Berlin 1945-1986: Geschichte der Hauptstadt der DDR, Berlin, 1987, 240-241. The Soviets wasted no time initiating their theater program. On May 14, 1945, General Besarin sent a group of German cultural elites on an excursion to survey the condition of Berlin's theaters and to register actors, singers, musicians, and technical personnel. Renovations were quickly underway on several theaters, and on September 24, 1945, the Berlin Magistrat passed a resolution for the restoration of a total of eight theaters for a sum of 1,140,000 Reichsmarks - at a time when obtaining several thousand Reichsmarks for historically valuable structures was problematic. These spaces also doubled as assembly halls for the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD) and related organizations.
64. See Kiederling, 94 Schulze, File notes, 9 July 1945, LAB, 110/897
65. Berlin Magistrat, Hauptamt für Stadtplanung, Hauptampt für Hochbau, unsigned memorandum, 1 October 1945, LAB, 110/790
66. Berlin Magistrat, Hauptamt für Stadtplanung, Hauptampt für Hochbau, file note, 1 February 1946
67. Berlin Magistrat, Hauptamt für Stadtplanung, Hauptampt für Hochbau, report on visit to Metropol Theater, 26 July 1946, LAB, 110/790;
68. A. Lampe et al., Berlin: Kampf um Freiheig und Selbstverwaltung, 1945-1946, Berlin, 1961, 355, 365, 375, 397, 404, 416.
69. Politburo, Plan des Neuaufbaus von Berlin; W. Pisternik to Ministry of Education, 19 February 1951, SAPMO-BA, H1, 38615;
70. PkB, Minutes from meeting, 18 September 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927;
71. PkB, Minutes from meeting, 23 October 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927.
72. K. Liebknecht, File notes, 28 June 1951, SAPMO-BA, H1, 44476;
73. R. Paulick, Die künstlerische Probleme 30
74. Liebknecht, 28 June 1951;
75. C. Mayer, File note for Lothar Bolz, Minister of Building, 9 July 1951, SAPMO-BA, H1
76. Paulick, R. Die künstlerische Probleme, 30.
77. Paulick, R. Die künstlerische Probleme, 32.
78. Paulick, R. Die künstlerische Probleme, 32.
79. W. Löschburg, Unter den Linden: Gesichter und Geschichten einer berühmten Strasse, Berlin, 1972, 65;
80. M. Wörner, D. Mollenschott and K. Hüter, 24.
81. Berlin Magistrat, 7 July 1947;
82. Durth, Düwel and Gutschow, Ostkreuz, Vol. 1, 86.
83. Neues Deutschland 13 May 1947
84. Berliner Zeitung 27 June 1947
85. Neues Deutschland 24 May 1950
86. Durth, Düwel and Gutschow, Vol. 1, 86.
87. Kiederling, 240-241;
88. see endnote 26.
89. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 10-21.
90. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 21-64.
91. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 75-78.
92. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 79; Politburo, 15 August 1950.
93. Politburo, 15 August 1950.
94. PkB, Minutes from meeting, 25 August 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927;
95. PkB, Minutes from meeting, 7 September 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927.
96. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden.
97. Michealis to Rebetsky, 14 July 1951, SAPMO-BA, DH2 (K1) A/47.
98. Walter Pisternik to Willi Stoph, Member of Central Committee of SED, 15 February 1951, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 39026.
99. Michealis to Rebetsky, 14 July 1951, SAPMO-BA, DH2 (K1) A/47.
100. Michealis to Rebetsky, 14 July 1951, SAPMO-BA, DH2 (K1) A/47.
101. Ernst Hoffman to Walter Pisternik, 5 September 1951, SAPMO-BA, H1, 38881.
102. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 80-82.
103. Politburo, Resolution, 15 December 1959, SAPMO-BA, DY 30/59.
104. Politburo, Resolution, 15 December 1959, SAPMO-BA, DY 30/59.
105. M. Azaryahu, Von Wilhelmplatz zu Thälmannplatz: Politische Symbole im öffentliche Leben der DDR, trans. K. Amrani and A. Mandelbaum, Germany, 1991, 135.
106. Politburo, 15 December 1959.
107. Berliner Zeitung 14 February 1960
108. Berliner Zeitung 9 May 1960
109. Berliner Zeitung 9 May 1960
110. Stölzl, Die Neue Wache Unter den Linden, 84-88. The function of the Neue Wache became a subject of renewed debate since German reunification. For an analysis of the negotiation of meaning regarding the Neue Wache during this era, see Till.
111. Berlin Magistrat, Copy of excerpt from statement from 20 June 1911, LAB, 110/903.
112. Evidence on the actual decision-making process leading to the Arsenal's reconstruction is especially diaphanous. This section is an interpretation of sometimes dubious accounts in press reports and government records, taking inter-agency squabbling and political circumstances into account.
113. According to Katz, control of the Arsenal had been turned over to the Planning Department after he convinced "the allies"; to change their plans to demolish the building in accordance with the Potsdam Conference policy that the most significant symbolic sites of Prussian-German militarism be destroyed. See Tägliche Rundschau (14 August 1947). In fact, the Allied Control Council did not approve any policy regarding the Arsenal until October, when it determined that its contents must be liquidated. (See Müller, 252.) Justi simply notes that the Planning Department "took"; the building from his office and refused to return it. See Ludwig Justi to Karl Bonatz, 28 November 1947, LAB, 110/903. Given the Soviet interest in exhibition space, and the fact that the Magistrat was engaged in repairs to make the building habitable in summer 1945. See Berlin Magistrat, Hauptamt Stadtplanung, Kostenüberschlag über die notwendigen Baumassnahmen zur Beseitigung Zerstorungen an dem Gebäude des Zeughauses in Berlin, UdL 2, 12 August 1945, LAB, 110/903. Given the SMAD's complete control over the administration of Berlin at that time, it can only be presumed that it arranged for the building to pass to Katz control at that time.
114. See Tägliche Rundschau (14 August 1947). In fact, the Allied Control Council did not approve any policy regarding the Arsenal until October, when it determined that its contents must be liquidated. (See Müller, 252.) Justi simply notes that the Planning Department "took"; the building from his office and refused to return it.
115. See Ludwig Justi to Karl Bonatz, 28 November 1947, LAB, 110/903
116. Given the Soviet interest in exhibition space, and the fact that the Magistrat was engaged in repairs to make the building habitable in summer 1945. See Berlin Magistrat, Hauptamt Stadtplanung, Kostenüberschlag über die notwendigen Baumassnahmen zur Beseitigung Zerstorungen an dem Gebäude des Zeughauses in Berlin, UdL 2, 12 August 1945, LAB, 110/903.
117. Given the SMAD's complete control over the administration of Berlin at that time, it can only be presumed that it arranged for the building to pass to Katz control at that time.
118. Müller, 250-251.
119. Schwenk to Hauptamtes für Hochbau, 3 December 1945, LAB, 100/903.
120. Berlin Magistrat, Note on Schwenk's report at meeting, 10 December 1945, LAB, 100/761;
121. Listmann to division supervisor, 22 August 1946, LAB, 110/903;
122. Müller, 251.
123. Müller, 252.
124. Berlin Magistrat, Hauptamt für Stadtplanung, unsigned memorandum, 6 February 1946 LAB, 110/903;
125. Listmann to division supervisor; Scheper, Letter to division supervisor, Hauptamptes für Hochbau, 30 August 1946, LAB, 110/903.
126. Berlin Magistrat, Finanzabteilung, file note, 30 November 1946, LAB, 110/ 903;
127. Ferdinand Friedensburg, Notes from meeting on 15 July 1947, 16 July 1947, LAB, 110/903.
128. See Ludwig Justi to Karl Bonatz, 28 November 1947, LAB, 110/903.
129. Ferdinand Friedensburg, Notes from meeting on 15 July 1947, 16 July 1947, LAB, 110/903.
130. Tägliche Rundschau 14 August 1947
131. Berlin Magistrat, Resolution, 8 September 1947, LAB, 100/797.
132. Ferdinand Friedensburg, Notes from meeting on 18 November 1947, 20 November 1947, LAB, 100/803.
133. R. Müller, Das Berliner Zeughaus: Die Baugeschichte, Berlin, 1994, 258.
134. Sonntag 24 July 1949
135. Müller, Das Berliner Zeughaus, 260-262, 288.
136. Müller, Das Berliner Zeughaus, 259.
137. Müller, Das Berliner Zeughaus, 267-272.
138. Ministerrat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Auszug aus dem Protokoll der 38 Sitzung der Provisoriche Regierung der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik am 23.8.50, 25 August 1950, SAPMO-BA, H1, 44476.
139. Ministerium für Aufbau, untitled document, undated, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927.
140. K. Liebknecht, Memorandum on meeting with Walter Ulbricht, 4 September 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 39827.
141. C. Maier, The Unmasterable Past: History, Holocaust and German National Identity, Cambridge, MA, 1988, 124-125.
142. W. Volk, Historische Strassen und Plätze heute: Berlin, Haupstadt der DDR, Berlin, 1980, 31-35.
143. Volk, Historische Strassen und Plätze heute, 33; PkB, Minutes from meeting, 18 September 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 38927.
144. Volk, Historische Strassen und Plätze heute, 32.
145. R. Paulick, Die künstlerische Probleme des Wiederaufbause der Deutschen Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Deutsche Architektur 1 (1952) 36.
146. Paulick, Die künstlerische Probleme des Wiederaufbaues der Deutschen Staatsoper Unter den Linden, 35.
147. Paulick, Die künstlerische Probleme des Wiederaufbaues der Deutschen Staatsoper Unter den Linden, 36.
148. S. Schulz, Denkmäler im Stadtbild Berlins, in: E. Badstübner and H. Sachs (Eds), Denkmale in Berlin und in der Mark Brandenburg, Weimar, 1988, 96; Stölzl, 20.
149. E. Badstübner and H. Sachs, Denkmale in Berlin und in der Mark Brandenburg, Weimar, 1988, 371.
150. S. Schulz, Denkmäler im Stadtbild Berlins, in E. Badstübner and H. Sachs (Eds), Denkmale in Berlin und in der Mark Brandenburg, Weimar, 1988, 96-98.
151. M. Azaryahu, Von Wilhelmplatz zu Thälmannplatz: Politische Symbole im öffentliche Leben der DDR, trans. K. Amrani and A. Mandelbaum, Germany, 1991, 132.
152. Ministerium für Aufbau, Hauptampt Stadtplanung, Termin- und Kostenplan für die vorläufige Umgestaltung des Lustgartens, 19 August 1950, SAPMO-BA, DH1, 39075.
153. Azaryahu, Von Wilhelmplatz zu Thälmannplatz, 142-143.
154. M. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor: Ein deustches Symbol, Berlin, 1999, 13-16.
155. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 39.
156. H. Börsch-Supan, Forward in M. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor: Ein deustches Symbol, Berlin, 1999.
157. J. March, Cassel Dictionary of Classical Mythology, London, 1998, 232; Cullen, 40.
158. Cullen, 40.
159. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 51.
160. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 41-71, 75-82.
161. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 93-94.
162. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 85-91.
163. Berlin Magistrat, Resolution, 12 November 1949, LAB, 100/843.
164. Berlin Magistrat, File note, 5 April 1950, LAB, 100/843.
165. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 90-93.
166. Sekretariat des Oberbürgermeisters, File note, 10 February 1951, LAB, 100/843.
167. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 94-96.
168. Politburo, Resolution, 28 August 1956, SAPMO-BA, DY, 30/56.
169. Cullen, 99; Cullen's assertion that the Beautification Plan was a response to West Berlin's IBA is substantiated by examining a copy of the plan published in Berliner Zeitung (28 August 1946): The focus was clearly on sites near border crossings and transportation nodes.
170. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 99-104.
171. Cullen, Das Brandenburger Tor, 103.
172. Politburo, Resolution, 9 September 1958, SAPMO-BA, DY 30/58.
173. Berliner Zeitung 16 September 1958
174. Berliner Zeitung 16 September 1958