Architecture and Art –the Federal Chancellery

ArchitektKunst_engl.qxd
22.01.2009
9:52 Uhr
Seite 1
Architecture and Art – the Federal Chancellery
Architecture
The plans for the Government district on the bend of
the River Spree at the heart of Berlin, home to the German
Parliament and the Federal Chancellery, were based on the
1993 award-winning design of architects Axel Schultes and
Charlotte Frank. They incorporate a 102-metre-wide ribbon of
federal buildings, the “Band des Bundes”, which forms a clasp
across the Spree, linking the east and west of the long-divided
city. The new Bundestag buildings – Paul Löbe House and
Marie Elisabeth Lüders House – are located at the eastern end
of the complex, to the north of the Reichstag, the seat of the
Bundestag. Jakob Kaiser House stands to the southeast of the
Reichstag, while the Federal Chancellery, with its central
building, two administrative wings and gardens and parks on
both sides of the Spree, rounds off the western end of the rib­
bon.
Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank were also success­
ful in the Federal Chancellery Architectural Competition,
winning one of the two first prizes on 14 December 1994. In
the jury’s view, their design distinguished itself by its unique
and striking character and exuded a convincing air of ele­
gance. On 28 June 1995, after undergoing several revisions,
this design was approved as the basis for the new building
concept.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl turned the first sod on
4 February 1997. On 2 May 2001 the keys were handed over
to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in an official ceremony,
which was followed by the first cabinet meeting in the new
cabinet room. The move to the Federal Chancellery marked
the final stage in the Government’s relocation to Berlin,
which the Bundestag had decided on 20 June 1991.
The main building is an imposing and distinctive
landmark. The clear lines of the 36-metre-high cube tower
several storeys above the two administrative wings, while
remaining lower than the Reichstag, which serves as a yard­
stick for the dimensions of the buildings in the bend of the
Spree.
The offices of the Chancellor, the Head of the Federal
Chancellery, the Ministers of State and their closest staff are
located on the fifth to the eighth floors of the building, along
with a large and a small cabinet room and the banquet area.
The fourth floor houses bug-proof rooms for the situation
centre. Technical equipment rooms occupy the second and
third floors, while the first floor boasts a large international
conference hall and the press briefing room.
The east front of the main building opens onto the
ceremonial courtyard, which features Eduardo Chillida’s steel
sculpture “Berlin”. This is where state visitors are received,
who enter the building via a spacious foyer.
The west façade borders directly onto the Chancellery
Garden and the Chancellery Park on the Spree. A helipad is
also located on this side.
The north and south sides of the main building, with
their large, open, arched façades and a loggia on the fifth
floor of the west side are flanked by two 18-metre-high
administrative wings. They contain 370 offices with windows
opening onto 12 glass conservatories planted with ever­
greens. Almost all employees have a similar-sized office. The
two office wings, which differ in length due to the course of
the Spree, are clad in pale sandstone. The east-west façades
are finished in white exposed concrete.
Imprint
Published by the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, 11044 Berlin; Redesign: Otterbach Medien KG GmbH & Co.;
Photos: Federal Government/A. Bienert, D. Gräfingholt, B. Kühler, E. Reineke, U. Weinke; S. Müller; Printer: Silber Druck oHG, 34266 Niestetal;
last updated in January 2009; telephone information service: 0180 272 0000*; Internet: www.bundesregierung.de, www.bundeskanzlerin.de
* call charges apply
ArchitektKunst_engl.qxd
22.01.2009
9:52 Uhr
Seite 2
Art
All ideas on the art to be displayed in the Chan­
cellery took their inspiration from the architecture itself. The
sharp geometrical outline of the sprawling building opposite
the Reichstag reflects the modernity of the united Germany
in its capital, Berlin. The art commission therefore planned
from the outset not only to include modern classical works,
but also to invite contemporary artists to produce pieces for
the building. The commission was eager not to limit its
selection to German art. After all, Germany is also a forum
for trends in the international art scene.
Consequently, the most prominent work of art in
the Federal Chancellery stems from a Spanish artist. The
Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida (1924–2002) created the
impressive, monumental sculpture in the ceremonial court­
yard, a 5.5-metre-tall and 87.5-ton iron form entitled “Berlin”.
The two intertwined arms, which almost but not quite touch,
embody the concepts of division and unity, clearly in both
a literal and a political sense. It is a symbol of the Federal
Chancellery as well as of the office of Federal Chancellor,
reflecting as it does the uniting forces of tolerance and politi­
cal moderation. It has acquired a level of significance similar
to that of the famous “Large Two Forms” by Henry Moore,
which graced the front of the old Federal Chancellery in
Bonn. That masterpiece was wrought in bronze, this one, in
contrast, uses steel. The rounded, closed shapes have been
replaced by an open, allusive structure.
Chillida’s sculpture “Berlin”
The German painter Markus Lüpertz was invited to
develop a theme for the six round walls of the central stair­
case in the interior entrance area. Lüpertz proposed six
“colour spaces”, drawing on old masters’ handbooks and the
medieval understanding of virtues and temperaments. Hence
the colour blue stands for wisdom, while umber (the colour
of lions) depicts power and strength. Red represents the
virtue of courage, ochre gold symbolizes justice and the com­
bination of green and white signifies shrewdness.
“Die Philosophin” (The Philosopher), a bronze statue
by the artist, stands at the foot of the northern front stairwell.
This is intended to epitomize the person who likes to take
time to reflect.
“Die Philosophin” by Markus Lüpertz
The sculptor Rainer Kriester (1935–2002), born in
Plauen, in the south-eastern German region of Vogtland,
described his sculptures as heads or stelae. Most of these
came into being in Albenga, a small town in the Ligurian
hills, where he lived and worked from 1982, dividing his
time between Italy and Berlin.
He chose as his material the local limestone – a porous,
off-white substance with a barely perceptible blush of pink.
Kriester retained the closed form of the block as it came out
of the quarry, transforming only its surface.
The lines are intuitively geometric. Triangles, circles
and stars intersect and overlap, giving the sculpture a myste­
rious, archaic appearance. The sculpture is a prominent
feature in the foyer of the main building.
Rainer Kriester: “Großes Weißes Kopfzeichen”
(Large White Head) (1984–1987)
The legendary Chancellor portraits, which so far depict
Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Willy
Brandt, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schröder
have pride of place on the first floor.
From left to right: Chancellor portraits by
Hans Jürgen Kallmann (1963), Günter Rittner
(1974), Günter Rittner (1976), Oswald Petersen
(1985), Bernhard Heisig (1986), Albrecht Gehse
(2003) and Jörg Immendorf (2007).
A large, three-part work by the abstract artist Ernst
Wilhelm Nay (1902–1968) was chosen for the press briefing
room – the famous “Augenbilder” (eye paintings), which
caused an international stir at the 1964 documenta III
exhibition in Kassel.
For instance the pictures "Orientalisches Märchen"
(Oriental Fairytale) by August Macke (1887-1914) and "Sonntag­
abend der Bergbauern" (Sunday Evening with the Mountain
Farmers) by the great Expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner (1880-1938) have been brought from the Bonn Federal
Chancellery.
A broad spectrum of artworks was selected for the
office and conference areas. These items include purchases
and loans, as well as works chosen from the Government
collection. It has therefore been possible to perpetuate long­
standing traditions in the new building.
The sky lobby is a central component of the Chan­
cellery’s design, enhancing the Chancellor’s area on the
seventh, the cabinet area on the sixth and the banquet area
on the fifth floor. The rooms are flooded with light, and the
large wall surfaces are ideal for displaying a high-quality
selection of international contemporary art.
The decision to display these pictures in the Federal
Chancellery is also a symbolic gesture to the painter. Nay was
among those artists derided in the 1937 “Degenerate Art”
exhibition in Munich, which the National Socialists used to
justify banning certain works.