The City Palace was originally opened in 1443, and was home to the rulers of Brandenburg, then Prussia, and finally, the German Kaisers. After the First World War, it was converted into a museum, and its innards were gutted during the Second World War.
The socialist government of East Germany demolished the palace in 1950 as a symbol of "prussianmilitarism", except for the balcony of portal IV where Karl Liebknecht declared the formation of a German freie sozialistische Republik (free socialist republic) that never came to existence. The socialists erected the Palast der Republik, a modern socialist realist building, on the foundations of the City Palace, and the plaza was renamed Marx-Engels_Platz. The portal survived as a part of the former State Council Building (Staatsratsgebäude) at the southern end of the place.
After German reunification, the name of the plaza was changed back to Schlossplatz, and the Palast was found to be unsafe due to asbestos. Despite vocal opposition from groups who claim that the Palast is itself historically important and should therefore be saved, in November 2003, the German parliament decided to demolish the Palast der Republik and reconstruct the City Palace; however, funding has not been found yet.
External link
Förderverein Berliner Schloss e.V. (http://www.berliner_schloss.de/) (Association for the Promotion of the Berlin City Palace)
The Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) is a building in Berlin, on the bank of the River Spree, and on Schlossplatz (formerly Marx-Engels-Platz).
It was built on the site of the old BerlinerStadtschloss (Berlin City Palace), which was demolished by the GDR authorities in 1950 as a symbol of Prussian imperialism.
In November 2003 the Bundestag decided to demolish the building and leave the area as a green space until funding for the reconstruction of the Stadtschloss could be found.
The Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) is a building in Berlin, on the bank of the River Spree, and on Schlossplatz (called Marx-Engels-Platz from 1951 to 1994).
It was built on the site of the old BerlinerStadtschloss (Berlin City Palace), which was damaged during World War II but finally demolished by the GDR authorities in 1950 as a symbol of Prussian imperialism.
In November 2003, the German parliament decided to demolish the building and leave the area as a green space until funding for the reconstruction of the Stadtschloss could be found.
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