By Hildburg Bruns and Michael Zöllner
Some are electrified, others shake their heads: who should pay for THAT?! BZ shows what Berlin’s culture senator Joe Chialo (53, CDU) dreams of: A super library is to move to the Galeries Lafayette department store (Friedrichstrasse). With bookshelves instead of Parisian chic behind the shop windows!
The new New York owner of Quartier 207 (Tishman Speyer) is looking for another tenant from 2024 because Lafayette then wants or has to move out. Nobody says that officially. There have been repeated rumors of plans to move out for five years.
Sometimes in Hamburg’s Hafencity, sometimes on the Kudamm, now all of the department store chain’s foreign locations are under scrutiny. In the already battered Friedrichstrasse, there would be a threat of XXL vacancies. At the same time, plans for a new, large central library in Kreuzberg have stalled.
Berlin’s culture senator Joe Chialo (CDU) says about the relocation plan: “This is a unique opportunity and a strong sign of departure for Berlin”. Photo: Philipp Znidar/dpa
BZ answers the most important questions
► What does he say Coalition partner for the Chialo plan?
Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (45, SPD): “If the building is vacant, the square meters and load capacity are sufficient, it is a once-in-a-century opportunity for the development of Friedrichstrasse. We need an anchor there and would not pursue this insanely expensive new building. In addition, it would be more climate-neutral to build in existing buildings and not to seal any new areas.”
► Advantage for the Central Library project?
It would pick up speed. Library experts have already toured the Lafayette rooms. You could move in after a few renovations in 2026/2027. However: there would be no space for the outside stacks on the four lower floors and seven upper floors (35,000 m²). The apartments in the quarter would not be touched. And: A change of use instead of a new building would save 64 percent of CO2.
► What are the problems with the Kreuzberg plan?
Building Senator Christian Gaebler (58, SPD) on the BZ: “At the Blücherplatz location, the question would be how to deal with the existing building of the America Memorial Library and what areas for expansion there are: either it’s a green area where everyone is screaming, it’s allowed no tree to be felled. Or a parking lot that does not belong to the state of Berlin. Or the Blücherstraße, which still has a traffic function. Everything not solved!”
The spectacular construction of the department store with the glass cones was opened in 1996 – around it seating landscapes are to be draped Photo: ZLB
► stands the Financing?
no way! It is also completely unclear whether to buy or rent. No funds are planned in the 2024/2025 budget – and three billion euros must be saved in the next but one. That’s why Senator for Culture Chialo is now being held back by his own people. The new building in Kreuzberg would cost at least 500 million euros.
► Is the project Competition for the plan to revive the ICC?
Giffey: “I don’t see a problem. We also need an anchor for the ICC – the planned competition procedure will show which one. We have a huge need for space for trade fairs and congresses. If we want to bring international events to the city, we need a place for 30,000 people.”
Berlin’s Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (45, SPD) hopes for a revival of Friedrichstrasse Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa
Chialo on the reactions: “We are delighted with the great response and the massive support that the proposal has triggered. In the coming weeks we will continue to discuss and examine the proposal with everyone involved and of course with our colleagues in the culture committee.”
The many bankruptcy projects around the central library
A 120-year serial novel is Berlin’s struggle for a central city library.
1914: The planned construction (promised in 1908) fails because of the First World War.
1929: The restart fails due to the global economic crisis and cannot be financed!
1950s: East Berlin reactivates the royal stables (centre). In 1954, the America Memorial Library (AGB) opened in West Berlin for the first time, a location where users could go directly to the shelves.
2014: With the lost referendum on the peripheral development of Tempelhofer Feld, the new Wowereit building site for the XXL bookworm also falls over. 2.5 million planning euros gone, alone 12,936 for a cinema spot.
The plan for Tempelhofer Feld: The massive block (260 meters long) by Stuttgart architects for Tempelhof was reminiscent of a runway by Oberst Architekten GbR Photo: Kohlmayer Oberst Architekten GbR
2018: Culture Senator Klaus Lederer (49, left) now wants to expand the terms and conditions at Blücherplatz (Kreuzberg). There, scattered locations (Breite Straße, Westhafen) are to merge). With 3,200 computer and reading workstations, 10,000 visitors every 16 hours a day.
2022: The building senate is again planning to use the Tempelhof airport building instead, which needs to be renovated anyway.