Published in: Helsingin Sanomat, 14th of November, 2003

- GERMANY WANTS TO DEMOLISH THE OLD PARLIAMENT BUILDING OF DDR

- The best place of Berlin, the capital of Germany, will be available for new construction projects, when the German parliament decided during Thursday, to demolish the old parliament building of DDR. The final decision was easy, even when the story of the building has been a long and hard. The bundestag followed the unanimous decision, that the different parliament groups had decided already in the culture committee.

- Only the PDS, that follows the old tradition of the East-German communist party, was against the fast decision. The whole demolition job will cost around 20 million euros and it will change the cityscape strongly in Berlin. The land that will be then free along the Spree riverbanks, tells a many different stories about the German history. The area, where now stands the old parliament building of DDR, will have a park, until the financial situation will allow the construction of the old Prussian King's castle. The new building, that would serve as a culture center, will cost around 570 million euros. The detailed plans are at the moment open, as Berlin does keep inside many similar places.

- The East-German leaders, blew up the old King's castle soon after they gained power. The old King's castle was famous for it's baroque style and the whole structure stretched along few blocks. The communist regime did repair a lot of old and historical buildings in East-Berlin, but thought the castle, that was occupied by the Prussian King's and the last German emperors, to be a symbol of militarism. The new German parliament did decide to build the replica of the old castle in June 2002, but the project is still waiting for the private investors.

- When thinking about the construction engineering, the decision was inevitable. The most important building in the former DDR, is now just a empty and damaged shell and everybody, be it the people who oppose the demolition plan or those who favor it, describe the building as an disgrace. The building was left empty, shortly after Germany united again. It was pointed out that it's full of asbestos and so it needed to be closed. The cleaning job however was not finished completely, although the interiors have already been demolished, like the meeting hall.

- The people who demand the building to be demolished, said in the first place, that it's not about the republic or about the building. On the other hand, the people who oppose the demolition plan, say that this only shows, that Berlin wants to get rid off the memory of the DDR. Many of the people from East-Berlin remembers the different cafeterias and dance hall that had a rotating floor. Those people who think correctly when it comes to politics, point out, that this building after all, is the one where the last parliament of DDR assembled and decided to end their state.