History of the Site

Much has happened here

Swampland, city quarter, monastery, royal recidence, parade ground, Palace of the Republic, lawn, and now the Humboldt Forum. No other site in Berlin has experienced such a concentration of social, urban, political and cultural developments as the Schlossplatz. Over the past 800 years, this site is where those in power have built, redesigned, demolished and re-planned the buildings that were to give their political ambitions a visible form. At the Humboldt Forum, you will find four permanent exhibitions devoted to this history.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

1 / 10

1250 City quarter

Archaeological finds suggest a settlement appearing on the Spree Island in the 12th century. By 1250, the site is a medieval quarter.

2 / 10

1451 Dominican monastery and palace

In comparison with similar buildings from the time and archaeological finds, we can reconstruct the monastery (ca. 1300) and the first palace (1451).

3 / 10

1685 Palace and cathedral

Based on a plan from 1685 this model shows the monastery church – which was a collegiate church by 1536 – the Renaissance palace and the coining tower.

4 / 10

1716 Palace

The Baroque royal palace designed by Andreas Schlüter is completed by his successors, Johann Friedrich Eosander and Martin Heinrich Böhme.

5 / 10

1910 Palace and Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument

Friedrich Wilhelm IV has a dome built over Portal 3 in 1845-1854. The Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument is inaugurated in front of it in 1897.

6 / 10

1945 Palace ruins and Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument

In February 1945, shortly before the end of the second world war, the Palace suffers bomb damage. It is gutted by fire.

7 / 10

1950 Parade ground with rostrum

The GDR government has the palace ruins demolished in 1950/1951, to make way for a parade ground for large-scale displays.

8 / 10

1976 Palace of the Republic

After three years of construction, the Palace of the Republic opened in 1976. The square in front of it was used for parades, and as a car park.

9 / 10

2008 Lawn and excavation area

After the demolition of the Palace of the Republic, archaeological excavations are carried out on the site. While the larger part becomes a lawn.

10 / 10

2020 Humboldt Forum

The Humboldt Forum is completed to a design of Franco Stella. It combines modern architectural forms with reconstructed Baroque palace façades.

1

10

image 1:

image 2:

image 3:

image 4:

image 5:

image 6:

image 7:

image 8:

image 9:

image 10:

A site of power

This site was and is a site of power. The buildings erected here were, and still are, used by the powerful as political symbols and as a public stage.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and his six sons on the morning of New Year’s Day 1908, on their way to the ‘Paroleausgabe’ (ceremony of giving watchwords to the guards) at the Zeughaus, Unter den Linden.

Military parade of the NVA (National People’s Army) on Marx-Engels-Platz, marking the 28th anniversary of the GDR in 1977.

Staged displays play an important role in spreading political messages. They continue to shape our perceptions of this site to this day.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel with French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference at the Humboldt Forum in 2018.

A controversial site

For centuries, this site was a centre of power and a stage for displays of strength. For that very reason, it has also been a crucible for revolutionary protest and social debate.

Barricade battles on Breite Strasse in the night of 18-19 March 1848.

Revolutions, demonstrations and debates aim to oppose power structures and their self-representations.

Demonstrators with banners standing in front of the Palace of the Republic on 4 November 1989.

Rally of Coalition of Cultural Workers against the Humboldt Forum (CCWAH) und BARAZANI.berlin on the opening of the Humboldt Forum, 20. Juli 2021

A working site

Whether at the Royal Palace, the Palace of the Republic, or the Humboldt Forum – for any grand show to work well, it takes many people working behind the scenes at all times.

The palace guard in the Schlüter Courtyard of the Berlin Palace, around 1890.

Staff at the milk bar in the Palace of the Republic (year and photographer unknown).

From the cellar to the roof – a wide variety of professions have been, and are, active on this site.

Setup of the exhibition in the Sculpture Hall, 2020.

A public site

The buildings on this site have always been accessible to the public. Visitors went in and out, took care of official business in the Royal Palace or listened to a concert in the Palace of the Republic. Today, we invite you to discover the Humboldt Forum and everything it offers.