On the Relationship Between History and the Present
Have any of the many tourists or Berliners in Berlin ever considered whether the design of the Berlin Federal Chancellery, with its visual resemblance to the Old Reich Chancellery, was intended by then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl? Did he want to continue an era by designing his residence and office? Or did he give the architect free rein in the design, and is it purely a coincidence that the Chancellor's official residence, with its reserved work and representative rooms, bears a strong external resemblance to the Old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmstraße 77?
The fact is that the Federal Chancellery, with its elevated central building with lower side wings, the fenced-off courtyard, the canopy, and the sculpture in the courtyard, appears like a homage to the Old Reich Chancellery, which was used by German Chancellors as a residence and workplace from 1878 to 1945.
This example shows that history cannot be changed retrospectively by demolishing buildings, but it does make it more difficult for future generations to interpret.
The Interaction Between Architecture and German History Using the Reich Chancellery as an Example
A building is, first and foremost, a structure with architectural elements.
However, architecture has a great deal to do with personal taste. The Reich Chancellery building is a good example of how architecture was used differently by the various residents of the building. Since the Reich Chancellery was continually expanded by them, its architecture allows us to explore the development of various architectural styles. In addition to its historical significance, the Reich Chancellery was also a building on which various architects left their artistic mark. Konrad Wiesend built the original palace, which later became the first Reich Chancellery, and Karl Friedrich Schinkel fundamentally redesigned it in the early 19th century for the Polish Prince Anton Radziwill in the style of the time. Later, renowned architects such as Wilhelm Neumann, Ernst von Ihne, Eduard Jobst Siedler, Paul Ludwig Troost, Leonhard Gall, and Albert Speer each expanded the building in the style of the time.
But they were also the ones who designed the architectural stage set with which the German Chancellors, from 1878 onwards, sought to visually underline their political aspirations in the world. The reconstructions therefore reveal how the various Chancellors wanted to be perceived by the public, and an analysis of the architecture allows conclusions to be drawn about the different personalities of the builders.
The need for a scientific analysis
A scientific study of the Reich Chancellery's construction history has never been officially undertaken in Germany. Since this does not diminish public interest in the building, however, the historical investigation is largely left to private TV productions, which often mix fiction and reality at will to generate ratings and "likes." As a result, the building has been glorified into a myth in recent years and reduced exclusively to its role during the Nazi era and as the site of the Führerbunker.
The global political role of the building and that of its residents, such as Schulenburg, Radziwill, Bismarck, and Ebert, are ignored in favor of the eternal search for hidden escape tunnels and bunkers in the eternal search for Adolf Hitler.
The 3D reconstruction of the building will make it possible in the future to better understand historical events and to contrast the idealizations with historically sound facts. Statements and theories from various contemporary witnesses, authors, and journalists can now be tested for their plausibility at the reconstructed historical site. Comparing their statements with the actual events at the scene will shed new light on some claims. A journey back in time and the opportunity to walk through the historic building for yourself will help convey history and architecture to history enthusiasts more intensively than ever before, allowing them to become eyewitnesses to a bygone era.
The 3D Reconstruction of the Reich Chancellery as Experimental Archaeology
The example of the Reich Chancellery clearly illustrates how difficult it is to understand a historical site based solely on historical plans and photographs. There are countless books, journalistic reports, and documentation that deal with the building's history. However, only a few of these publications address the fact that the building's construction history dates back to 1733. However, if one ignores the original building, an interpretation of the later extensions built under the Reich Chancellors is impossible.
The author of the project presented here came to this conclusion by taking the time to digitally reconstruct the building. The 3D reconstruction thus became not just an imaging tool but, similar to experimental archaeology, a scientific work in its own right.
early preliminary designs or later reconstructions.
Furthermore, thousands of photographs were compared for the 3D reconstruction undertaken for this project. This revealed constant structural changes to the building that had previously been unknown. During the work on this project, it also became clear that the 3D reconstruction of a historical site cannot be left to graphic designers alone. Graphic designers often lack the necessary scientific understanding of the historical building structure, resulting in 3D reconstructions that are unsuitable for academic work because they emphasize minor details that the graphic designer found visually interesting, but do not constitute a reconstruction in the scientific sense.
In the project to reconstruct the Reich Chancellery, exaggerated visual effects are therefore avoided. The building and the most accurate reconstruction possible are the focus of the work, so as not to mix historical evidence with fiction.