Endless Palace

How do we remember the Palace of the Republic in 2024, 50 years after it was built?

This central building of the GDR was a centre of attraction for millions of people for 13 years, but has now been gone from the cityscape for over 15 years. The stories surrounding the glass and concrete building emphasise the palace as a place of entertainment on the one hand and as the GDR’s political centre of power on the other. The memories of this time are increasingly becoming history and the Palace of the Republic is both romanticised and condemned. At the same time, its concrete image is increasingly fading.

On the themed weekend Endless Palace on 15/16 June, we will set out to discover the stories, memories and narratives surrounding the iconic building at the Humboldt Forum. We want to ask Berliners about their personal experiences and are setting up a collection point for private photographs, private films and small objects. Share your memories of everyday life and tell us about special events in and around the Palace of the Republic!

In Deutschlandfunk Nova’s successful podcast, Eine Stunde History (One Hour of History), we ask about the power of photography and collective memory, and in the artistic virtual reality installation Palast der Erinnerung (Palace of Memory) by Cyberräuber, we show how artificial intelligence adds further nuances to our images of the past. With “Hände” (Hands) by Isabell Schad, a dance performance for 10 women (first performed at Festival OSTEN) and “Quartett” by Heiner Müller in a performative reading by and with Corinna Harfouch, two artistic works can be seen that deal with the East German heritage.