Cultural policy
Unity monument at risk: millions more required
One of the components of the future Freedom and Unity Monument is being worked on in a workshop in North Rhine-Westphalia (archive image). The monument, which has been controversial for years, is to be built in the immediate vicinity of the Humboldt Forum and the former GDR State Council building in Berlin-Mitte. photo
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
A freedom and unity monument is to be built in Berlin-Mitte, but the project is dragging on. But now there is a lack of money – 2.5 million euros, without which the construction would be “fundamentally at risk”.
The monument, which has been controversial for years, is being built in the immediate vicinity of the Humboldt Forum and the former GDR State Council building on the base at the site of the former national monument for Kaiser Wilhelm in the center of Berlin. The concept of the 50 by 18 meter construction envisages a huge walk-in shell. If enough people move to one side, the scales will tilt accordingly.
The Bundestag first approved the monument in 2007. Construction was delayed by competitions, disagreements in the winning team and concerns from monument and animal rights activists.
The monument was originally supposed to be inaugurated on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 2019. The appointment failed due to financing issues. In 2018, the Bundestag’s budget committee approved the initially necessary 17 million euros for the walk-in work, also referred to by critics as a “uniform seesaw”.
“The monument is a social sculpture. It comes to life when visitors come together, communicate and move together,” said architect and creative director Sebastian Letz in the statement. The monument is “an image of democracy in action”.
From the perspective of managing director Johannes Milla, the project is “on the home stretch, the base of the monument in front of the Humboldt Forum is just waiting for the shell to be installed.” He hopes “that 34 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the completion of the monument to unity and freedom will not fail because of 2.5 million euros.”