Federal Chancellery (Berlin)


The Federal Chancellery in Berlin is the official seat of the Chancellor of Germany as well as their executive office, the German Chancellery. As part of the move of the German Federal Government from Bonn to Berlin, the office moved into the new building planned by the architects and Charlotte Frank. The building, which is the largest government headquarter in the world, is part of the ″Federal Belt″ called assembly in the, Willy-Brandt-Straße 1, 10557 Berlin.

History

When the North German Confederation became the German Empire in 1871, the Confederation's Bundeskanzleramt was renamed to Reichskanzleramt. It originally had its seat in the Radziwiłł Palace, built by Prince Antoni Radziwiłł on Wilhelmstraße 77 in Berlin. More and more imperial offices were separated from the Reichskanzleramt, e.g. the Reichsjustizamt in 1877. What remained of the Reichskanzleramt became in 1879 the Reichsamt des Innern.
In 1878, Imperial Chancellor Bismarck created a new office for the chancellor's affairs, the Reichskanzlei. It kept its name over the years, also in the republic since 1919. In 1938–39, the building Neue Reichskanzlei, designed by Albert Speer, was built; its main entrance was located at Voßstraße 6, while the building occupied the entire northern side of the street. It was damaged during World War II and later demolished by Soviet occupation forces.
In 1949, the Federal Republic was created. Bonn was made the provisional capital. Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer used the Museum Koenig for the first two months and then moved the Bundeskanzleramt into Palais Schaumburg until a new Chancellery building was completed in 1976.
Nearly ten years after the German reunification in 1990, in the summer of 1999, most of the German government moved back to Berlin. The Chancellery was temporarily housed in the former GDR State Council Building as the new Chancellery building was not yet finished at the time.

Overview

The spectacular as well as controversial monumental building ensemble of the new Federal Chancellery was designed by the Berlin architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank by a joint venture of Royal BAM Group's subsidiary Wayss & Freytag and the Spanish Acciona, during the term of Chancellor Helmut Kohl. After the groundbreaking ceremony on February 4, 1997 and almost four years of construction, the building was populated on 2 May 2001 by then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, whereby the government move to Berlin was completed. The cultivated land is with helipad and chancellery park around 73,000 m².
With a height of 36 meters, the building surpasses Berlin eaves height of 22 meters and is the largest government headquarter in the world. It is about eight times the size of the White House in Washington, to which, however, other buildings belong. The most important characteristics of the building ensemble are:
The building features a modern, largely glazed exterior and was constructed in an essentially postmodern style, though some elements of modernist style are evident. The design went through three versions between 1995 and 1997. Extensively used colors have their own, precisely defined symbolic effects. On the honorary court, which is formed by the line construction and the two office wings, there are the Berlin sculpture of the Basque artist Eduardo Chillida and four columns each with tree planting, flagpoles and in front of the main entrance a spanning tent roof. The court of honor is mainly used to receive guests.
In the line construction, flanked by two office wings, there are nine levels:
In the wings there are 300 offices of 20 m² each and 13 winter gardens. In the southern office wing there is a canteen. In the northern office wing is the press and staff entrance next to the separate main police station. Beyond the Spree in the Chancellery Park to the west there is a helipad. The park is accessible via the Kanzleramtssteg, a double-storey bridge, for pedestrians and vehicles.
In addition to the possibility of electronic communication, there is also a pneumatic tube system for filing documents.
Visitor groups are admitted, albeit under extremely high security standards.

Art in the Chancellery

The Chancellery complex is not only home to important works of classical modernism, but also works by contemporary German and international artists.
The main work in the chancellery is the monumental iron sculpture Berlin by the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida. The 5.5-meter-high and 87.5-ton sculpture, with its two almost touching arms, evokes associations such as rapprochement, division and unification, which can be understood as intended political symbolism. The sculpture occupies a similar position as Henry Moore's Large Two Forms of the Bonn Chancellery and is of similar symbolism.
The inner entrance area was artistically shaped by the painter Markus Lüpertz, who transformed the central staircase into six different "color spaces" whose colors are to symbolize certain classical virtues: blue, umbra, red, Ocher-gold and green / white. In addition, Lüpertz created the sculpture The Philosopher as the epitome of thoughtful people, which is also located in the entrance area. Another large sculpture in the interior can be called the Great White Heading of the artist Rainer Kriester.
On the first floor is the gallery of the former Federal Chancellors. Helmut Schmidt had the idea of a portrait series in 1976. The former Chancellors then chose a portrait, which was then purchased by the Chancellery:
Konrad Adenauer was painted by Hans Jürgen Kallmann in 1963. Another portrait of Adenauer by Oskar Kokoschka is in the office of Angela Merkel. Ludwig Erhard and Kurt Georg Kiesinger were portrayed by Günter Rittner in the years 1974 and 1976.
Willy Brandt was originally portrayed by Georg Meistermann. Meistermann's picture represents a 'critical form' of the representative portrait, but reveals virtually no visible relation to the person and meaning of Brandt. The later Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, therefore, had the image removed from the Chancellery gallery, and his successor Helmut Kohl replaced it with a realisticly painted Brandt portrait of the Düsseldorf painter Oswald Petersen.
Helmut Schmidt decided to let former East German artist Bernhard Heisig paint him in 1986. Helmut Kohl had himself painted by a student of Bernhard Heisig, Albrecht Gehse. Gerhard Schröder opted for a painting by Jörg Immendorff.

Vernacular

Mainly by journalists and tourist guides, the building is being nicknamed "elephant loo", "Kohlosseum" or "laundry machine". Sometimes "federal" or "Chancellor's laundry machine" are used also.