Berlin FDP parliamentary group leader
Czaja: Check the night lighting of the Brandenburg Gate
Sebastian Czaja, chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives. Photo: Monika Skolimowska/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In view of skyrocketing energy prices, savings opportunities are widely discussed. The Berlin FDP politician Sebastian Czaja asks: “Does the Reichstag dome have to be illuminated all night?”
To save energy, Berlin’s FDP faction leader Sebastian Czaja questions the nocturnal lighting of the Brandenburg Gate and other well-known buildings. “The federal government and the Senate must seriously examine the extent to which, for example, sights in Berlin could only be illuminated until midnight and energy savings could be achieved as a result,” said Czaja of the German Press Agency. He advocated differentiating between safety-relevant and aesthetic lighting.
“We have many security-related objects, such as underpasses, that need to be illuminated at night,” he said. But: “Why does the radio tower still have to be illuminated from below after midnight? Other examples are the Red Town Hall, the Brandenburg Gate, the Victory Column, and the Charlottenburg Town Hall,” says Czaja. He also asked the question: “Does the Reichstag dome have to be illuminated all night? I’ll put a question mark there.”
Such measures could bring many times the savings, said the FDP politician. “What we expect from the citizens, the state must also do for itself.” He therefore expects this to be seriously examined. In view of gas supplies from Russia being curtailed and possibly soon to be stopped, as well as skyrocketing energy prices, potential savings are being widely discussed in Germany. The Berlin Senate has set up a task force for this purpose.