A little help from a UFO in project to rebuild Berlin palace

By Katrin Wolf Dec 8, 2011, 4:06 GMT

Berlin - Locals in the German capital like to come up with their own names for the city's architectural landmarks. Very often it's the shape that will inspire the name.

For example the Chancellery is the 'Washing Machine,' the House of World Cultures is the 'Pregnant Oyster' and the Old Library is the 'Kommode' (chest of drawers).

'Ah, you mean the fancy object,' a policeman says, showing the way to the Humboldt-Box in the heart of historical Berlin. A few months after it was erected, the eye-catching octagonal temporary exhibition and event venue with its origami-style folds became known as the 'UFO.'

The 28-metre-high Humboldt-Box is located on the site of the palace that once housed Prussian kings and emperors. Its purpose is to promote the reconstruction of the City Palace and help raise funds for the project.

In the entrance hall, a cardboard model depicts the palace in the relation to the surrounding areas in 1900, some five decades before it was destroyed. The replica shows the palace, which was known for its elaborated facades, along the river Spree and set against the backdrop of the Museum Island, the current location of the world-famous Old National Gallery and the Pergamon Museum. Volunteer guides provide visitors with details of the palace as it was and of the plans to rebuild it.

The model shows how the historical buildings that surround the castle were erected in a direct reference to it and so form an ensemble. For the advocates of a reconstruction, this is one of the most important arguments. The rebuilding of the palace is 'the logical consequence for the completion of the Museum Island,' says Gerd Henrich, managing director of Megaposter, which set up the Humboldt-Box.

'The historic centre of a city should be restored - there should be space for modernity, but the centre has to be completed,' Henrich says.

After World War II, the palace was blown-up by East German communists and replaced with the Palast der Republik, the defining architectural feature of which was bronze mirrored windows. After the fall of communism, it was torn down.

In 2002, the federal government approved the reconstruction of the City Palace. The estimated cost of the project is 670 million euros (920 million dollars). Of this, 80 million euros is to be raised privately for the rebuilding of the palace facades.

According to Henrich, a member of the fundraising committee behind Berlin's UFO, it was supposed to include an element of provocation. 'It is our goal to attract people and arouse their curiosity,' he says.

Once drawn inside, visitors are encouraged to leave donations on the first floor of the info centre. Volunteers like Ellen Vetter, a retired pharmacist, are there to assist donors who can feed cash into a ticket machine. It produces a donation receipt for sums of 10 cents (14 US cents) upwards. People who give more than 10 euros (14 dollars) receive a certificate.

A visitor can 'buy' a palace stone for around 250 euros (340 dollars), or an ornament ranging from 1,250 euros (1,700 dollars) to 655,200 euros (900,000 dollars) for a wrought-iron gate. Henrich says the centre has attracted plenty of visitors since it opened on June 29, with around 100,000 in the first 50 days alone. Nearly 16 million euros (22 million dollars) has been raised since 2004.

The palace is to get a modern interior and will house several museums and exhibitions. This space will be called the Humboldt-Forum. Inside the Humboldt-Box, visitors can get a first glance of what the future exhibitions, which are to follow a modern concept, will look like. On the fifth floor, a cafe on the terrace provides a splendid view of Berlin. Visitors can view the building works while having a cup of coffee.

The Humboldt-Box will stay until the renovation work is complete in 2019. Thereafter, Berlin's UFO will take off again and leave only historical buildings behind.