The Berliner Stadtschloss was a royal and imperial palace in the centre of Berlin, the historical capital of Prussia, and subsequently Germany. It was located on the Museum Island at Schlossplatz, opposite the Lustgarten park and Berliner Dom. It was the winter residence of the Kings of Prussia and the German Emperors.
The palace was originally built in the 15th century and changed throughout the next few centuries.
It was the principal residence and winter residence of the Hohenzollern Kings of Prussia from 1701 to 1918. After the unification of Germany in 1871, it was also the central residence for the German Emperors. It became a museum following the fall of the German Empire in 1918. The palace was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II. Although it could have been repaired at great expense, the palace was demolished in 1950 by the German Democratic Republic authorities, despite West German protests.
In 1973 the GDR authorities started construction of the Palast Der Republik on this location, a building used for many public events.
it also housed two large auditoria, art galleries, a theatre, 13 restaurants, a bowling alley, a post office, and a discothèque.
Just before the reunification of Germany in october 1990, it was detected that the building contained a lot of asbestos. Shortly after this detection the building was closed for the public. But only in 2003 all the asbestos was safely removed from the building.
In november 2003 the German parliament voted for demolition of the remains of the building which started in 2006.
In January 2006 the Bundestag definitively voted for the rebuilding of the Prussian-era Stadtschloss. Three façades of the palace will be exact replicas of the original, but the interior will be a modern one. The new palace will be called the Humboldtforum, and will house the Humboldt collection and gallery of non-European art.
In 2013 work started on reconstruction and a part of the exterior of the palace has been rebuilt. The completion is expected in 2019.
Humboldt Box
The Humboldt Box is a futuristic museum structure on the Schloßplatz in the center of Berlin, Germany. It was built as a temporary exhibition space and viewing platform for the Humboldt Forum (Stadtschloss) construction project and to inform the public about its future use.
After completion of the Humboldt Forum, planned for 2019, the structure is slated to be dismantled.
