Last photos from my Steve-guided Berlin visit in late May, because I love what this particular building represents, as he tells the story. Basically, when the wall came down and as the divided Germany became reunited, one major trend was the ready and easy dismissal of all things that had happened – and all buildings that had been built – during the 41 years (minus four days) of the official existence of the German Democratic Republic as not worthy of continued existence. On this spot had once been, pre-WWII, an actual royal palace in which humans who self-identified as royal had lived. Cutting through a few phases, let’s just say by the 1970s there was a new building here called the Palace of the Republic, which in a turnabout-is-fair-play move the reunited Berlin state & city government in the newly-enlarged-through-reunification Federal Republic of Germany decided had to go because, well, history moving on and all.
So after much debate – this piece of ground has seen much debate in the past century! – the city’s planners and tourist magnates decided that a rebuilt royal palace which looks from the outside like the old one, but which inside is a cultural forum calling itself the Humboldt Forum would be just the thing. It opened in 2020, so don’t let its grand looks fool you into thinking your looking at an actual old building – for that, check out A’dam’s “relatively new” Westerkerk a few posts ago! 🙂
I suspect there’s some tourist-sector envy of Buckingham and the throngs there to watch the changing of the guard, myself. But draw your own conclusions. Tip if you visit: excellent bathrooms in the basement that one didn’t have to pay for, when I myself was doing this walk with Steve at least :-).
(so much world, so little time....) 
Leave a comment