Reconstructing Berlin

Abstract

Using the relational concepts of scale, substance and style, we develop a sociological perspective on the built environment that takes into account but extends beyond specific political conditions. We investigate three examples of grand civic architecture that have successively occupied a central site in Berlin. The Palast der Republik built by the authorities of the German Democratic Republic replaced the Prussian City Palace only to be demolished three decades later, giving way to a replica of the imperial palace that is currently under construction. We show how this drama of destruction, construction and reconstruction spanning different temporal and political contexts substantiates a cultural sociological framework with wider applicability. Investigating the importance of the site, we show how these recurrences indicate that a will to grand architectural representation and ritual destruction is not reducible to any one specific political ideology. This, in turn, indicates that a deeper imperative of symbolic politics is at work. The life and death of great Berlin palaces show how materiality and meaning are interwoven to entrench political legitimacy.