Berlin Palace

Berlin Palace
Berlin Palace
Berliner Schloss
	The west and north façades of the reconstructed Berlin Palace. Completed in 2020, the palace now houses the Humboldt Forum museum.
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	Electors of Brandenburg; Kings of Prussia; German Emperors;
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Andreas Schlüter (original); Franco Stella (reconstruction);

The Berlin Palace (German: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (German: Königliches Schloss),^[1] adjacent to the Berlin Cathedral and the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of King 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.^[2] The royal palace was one of Berlin’s largest buildings and shaped the cityscape with its 60-meter-high (200 ft) dome.

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 demolished by the East German authorities in 1950. In the 1970s, it became the location of the modernist East German Palace of the Republic (the parliament building of East Germany).

After German reunification in 1989 and years of debate, particularly regarding the fraught historical legacy of both buildings, the Palace of the Republic was itself demolished in 2009 and 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.
^ Georg Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Berlin. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-422-03111-1, p. 63. (German)

[1] "Berliner Schloss – Die Hohenzollern-Fassade". Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

[2] Georg Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Berlin. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-422-03111-1, p. 63. (German)

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