Review: Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 by Florian Urban

Abstract

Florian Urban. Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 . Farnham, England, and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, 2009, x + 294 pp., 94 b/w illus., and 3 diagrams. $124.95, ISBN 9780754676164 For most of its existence, the German Democratic Republic was committed to mass-produced housing, pragmatic modernism, and socialist universalism. Having built a sea of prefab high-rises and slabs, during the 1970s the government turned to neohistorical architecture and the renovation of historical neighborhoods, especially in the capital, Berlin. In Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 , Florian Urban offers the first systematic exploration of this paradox.1 The explanation, he suggests, lies in a mixture of pragmatism, provisional decisions that were later amplified into lasting policy, and shifting cultural attitudes. The paradox might have been only apparent, as Urban argues that neohistoricism was not always antipodal to modernism. What Urban calls neohistorical architecture comprises refurbishment, reconstruction, and new structures. His examples are showcase projects located in the center of the city, all somehow exceptional: spaces aimed at tourism, or at representing the GDR to an international public, or located in areas famous for their vibrant alternative culture. The resulting buildings and neighborhoods do not necessarily abide by visual or material authenticity, but rather evoke a “historical character” or “feel” through the use of past architectural forms and the staging of history “in period shops and restaurants”(74). The most notorious example is the Nikolaiviertel, a patch of winding streets and old-looking buildings, which Urban calls a “prefab old town” in reference to the concrete plates used in a large portion of the reconstruction. The area was at the heart of medieval Berlin, but most of it lay in ruins in the postwar era—including the Nikolaikirche, one of Berlin’s oldest structures. The Nikolaiviertel’s central location and history made it attractive to the GDR government not only as a site for tourism, but also to boost claims to German national …