City Palace (Berlin Stadtschloss)

In view of the previous opposition, including high cost, and most importantly, the psychological and political objections, successive German governments had declined to commit themselves to the project. However, by 2002 and 2003 cross-party resolutions of the Bundestag reached a compromise to support at least a partial rebuilding of the Stadtschloss. In 2007, the Bundestag (German parliament) made a definitive decision about the reconstruction. According to this compromise, which had been drawn up by a commission, three façades of the palace would be rebuilt, but the interior would be a modern structure to serve as a cultural museum and forum. An architectural competition was held, and in 2008 the jury chose the submission by Italian architect Franco Stella.[16] Some of the internal spaces in Stella's design follow the exact proportions of the original state rooms of the palace, so as to facilitate their reconstruction at a later date should this be desired. The reconstruction also reproduces the original metre-thick width of the outer walls. However these have been rebuilt as a sandwiched construction: an inner retaining wall of concrete, followed by a layer of insulation, and an outer wall of brick, sandstone and stucco which replicates the original. Reconstruction of the Renaissance-gabled Pharmacy Wing, which connected to the Stadtschloss on the north side, would be another possible future project.