Reconstruction projects in Potsdam (City Palace, baroque Quartier Barberini, Garrison Church etc.)

[Kampflamm]

Potsdam (just outside Berlin) used to more or less be the capital of the Hohenzollerns. Having sustained a fair degree of damage during WW2 it nonetheless remains a beautiful city. One of the biggest reconstruction projects is the Hohenzollern palace.



































Source: http://www.pnn.de/mediathek/595400/1/











Source

[aitante68]

Beautiful project! i was in Potsdam two years ago and there was only an empty space and the fortuna portal. nice to see that works are at this good point. I hope that they will tear down that horrible DDR's building on the back

[Dr.Seltsam]

Thanks for opening this thread, Kampflamm! Great idea!

[TheReconstructer]

The building looks very beautiful already Are they also already started with the Garnisonkirche?

[cameronpaul]

Thanks so much for these interesting photos. The rebuilding looks stunning I must get to Potsdam and see it for myself. Hard to believe I've travelled all over Europe but have never been to Berlin, time to go now, there seems to be so much happening there.

[Kampflamm]

Originally Posted by TheReconstructer

The building looks very beautiful already Are they also already started with the Garnisonkirche?

They recently rebuilt this as a showpiece:





The project is slightly controversial with some lefties cause Hitler used the place for a ceremony in March of 33.

It's still not certain whether or not the church will be rebuilt. Quite sad really because it was a beautiful building.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...r%C3%BCcke.jpg


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...isonkirche.jpg


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...sionkirche.jpg

After WW2:


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...isonkirche.jpg

1966:


http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...20090609145027

View from the destroyed palace towards the church:

image hosted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lautenschlag/4219330946/

[Kampflamm]

Another building slated for reconstruction: Alte Post


http://www.abload.de/img/nauenerbrckemz9t.jpg


http://www.mitteschoen.de/leitbauten/alte-post.html


http://www.mitteschoen.de/leitbauten/alte-post.html


http://www.mitteschoen.de/leitbauten/alte-post.html


http://www.mitteschoen.de/leitbauten/alte-post.html

[Kampflamm]

The area next to the palace (referred to as Quartier Barberini) will be reconstructed as well:







Modern addition by Franco Stella:



Palast Barberini:







On the right you can see the palace:

[Kampflamm]

Model of the reconstructed area:

Source: Luftpost / Stadtbild Deutschland







Riverfront view:

[Judge Roy Beam]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

The area next to the palace (referred to as Quartier Barberini) will be reconstructed as well:

Very nice indeed

[Judge Roy Beam]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

The project is slightly controversial with some lefties cause Hitler used the place for a ceremony in March of 33.

Oh no is right. Somebody needs to inform those clowns that the church was there long before Hitler.

Moreover, as head of state for 12 years Hitler used lots of historical sites as props or backdrops for his ceremonies.

Would these morons like to see them all torn down?

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

It's still not certain whether or not the church will be rebuilt. Quite sad really because it was a beautiful building.

1966:


http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...20090609145027

It was indeed.

And it could have been restored with relative ease too

[JohnnyMass]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

The project is slightly controversial with some lefties cause Hitler used the place for a ceremony in March of 33.

Well, we all know that when it comes to reconstruct some lost building some people take all sorts of efforts to find bogus reasons to justify why they shouldn't be rebuilt. This is a pretty good example of that!

Hopefully, sanity will prevail and the Garnisonkirche will soon once more dominate Potsdam's skyline.

[Chadoh25]

I agree with you'll. If we leveled EVERYTHING where something bad might have happened, then there wouldn't be much left, now would there. I'm very pleased to see Potsdam and Dresden rebuilding there historic centers! I hope to see them both very soon!

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Another great reconstruction example from Germany

[Slartibartfas]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

The project is slightly controversial with some lefties cause Hitler used the place for a ceremony in March of 33.

That's like saying we should tear down the Hofburg in Vienna because Hitler gave his famous Anschluss speach from its balcony.

Looking forward to the completion of this reconstruction of the Potsdam palace and some of the surrounding.

[Kampflamm]

Well, it's also perceived as a symbol of Prussian militarism. It's just sad to see buildings become so politicized instead of focusing on their inherent beauty.

[Kampflamm]

Webcam view on April 6:



The other reconstruction projects that I mentioned will be located in the righthand part of the picture.

[Slartibartfas]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

Well, it's also perceived as a symbol of Prussian militarism. It's just sad to see buildings become so politicized instead of focusing on their inherent beauty.

The Prussian rule was so much more than just about militarism. But you are right, the inherent beauty of the building should be sufficient by itself already. Unless the very building was the heart of some very great crime and its central symbol maybe. Even then it should be rebuilt but with some sort of visible "comment".

[Chadoh25]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

Well, it's also perceived as a symbol of Prussian militarism. It's just sad to see buildings become so politicized instead of focusing on their inherent beauty.

I completely agree. But one of the things I've NEVER understood is how Prussia was really any different than say Russia, England, or France. They both had empires which were built on conquest and the subjugation of other people. The Brits or the French didn't build their Empire by playing nice with the natives! Just ask the Native Americans here or the peoples of Africa! How are they any better than the Germans? From what I can tell, it just seems more fashionable to beat up on Prussia.

[Kampflamm]

I think the problem is that plenty of people in Germany feel the Prussian sense of duty and honor more or less led to Hitler or at least made it easier for him to go on a rampage. Prussia was big on following orders and not questioning superiors. Therefore people will go around arguing that anything built before the 1950s is essentially smeared with the stigma of authoritarianism (aside from the modernist architecture of the 1920s) and should thus not be reconstructed by a democratic society.

Still, as you mention Prussia really was no different than the UK or France, in some aspects perhaps even more liberal. And disobeying orders certainly wasn't something that the British or French armies signed off on either.