By Gunnar Schupelius
The monument, which is supposed to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, is getting more and more expensive, but not finished. The construction site is reminiscent of BER Airport, says Gunnar Schupelius.
The monument to freedom and unity is to stand in front of the main portal of the city palace. This was decided by the Bundestag in February 2017.
The memorial was supposed to be ready for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 2019), but construction actually started in spring 2020. Now, three years later, it’s still nowhere to be seen. The construction site is reminiscent of BER, the airport that went into operation eleven years late.
You don’t immediately understand why the monument hasn’t been there for a long time. Because actually everything is ready. The work of art consists of a foundation in the form of a trough.
A 50 meter long steel shell is mounted on top of this. It is accessible and offers space for up to 1400 visitors on an area of 700 square meters.
This is what the Unity Monument should look like: It tilts when visitors move to one side Photo: athe *
Like a seesaw, the bowl tilts to one side where there are at least 50 more visitors than the other. This is intended to symbolize that people can make a difference if they want to. With this idea, the artists Sasha Waltz (Berlin) and Johannes Milla (Stuttgart) were awarded the contract.
The foundation has long been poured, and the shell (150 tons) is ready for use, along with its complicated tilting technology.
It is with the manufacturer, at the company “Stahlbau Heinrich Rohlfing” in Stemwede (NRW). The transport on a special low-loader is meticulously planned. Even the route from the city motorway in Schöneberg to the city palace in Mitte has already been measured to see whether the heavy transport is coming around the corners.
But the shell can’t come because the permits are missing. Apparently, the responsible authorities do not agree on how to classify the monument: is this bowl with tilting technology a machine or is it a building? Depending on this, you would need different reports and permits.
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) is responsible for the Freedom and Unity Monument. Her spokeswoman did not want to give an explanation for the extremely long construction period and the permits. In response to our detailed inquiries, she only said: “The construction work is ongoing.”
But there is nothing to be seen at the scene of the event. And there is no appointment for the transport of the shell either.
In the meantime, the constantly increasing and enormously high costs for the monument have increased by 660,000 euros to 17.78 (!) million euros. That’s not even the final total.
Once the monument is up, it needs maintenance. That too will be expensive. The operating costs are estimated at more than 200,000 euros per year.
Because of the high costs, the monument was repeatedly criticized. And indeed, one wonders why remembering the fall of the Berlin Wall has to be so expensive.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
Read all of Gunnar Schupelius’ columns here