property
Debate about the area with the former Goebbels villa near Berlin
The former villa of Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels on the Bogensee area, photo
© Patrick Pleul/dpa
What should become of the dilapidated area with an old Nazi villa northeast of Berlin? Berlin’s finance senator wants to give away the site in Wandlitz if necessary – the municipality objects.
The Bogensee area with the former villa of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels Berlin is falling into disrepair. The site belongs to the state of Berlin, whose finance senator Stefan Evers (CDU) wants to give it away if necessary, as he said in the House of Representatives on Thursday. The mayor of Wandlitz Oliver Borchert (Freie Bürgergemeinschaft Wandlitz) called the statements inappropriate and harmful. In an interview with the German Press Agency (dpa), he also expressed a fear that right-wing ideologues could try to get to the site.
Borchert: Finance Senator’s statement “extremely unfortunate”
“I have no understanding for such statements,” said Borchert. The statements do not do justice to the historical significance and are harmful to the property. Years ago, the “Kingdom of Germany,” among others, tried to gain a foothold there. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution attributes the group to the “Reichsbürger” milieu. “What I would not like to see is that the state of Berlin gives the area away to some private individual who then pursues ideological goals with the property. Against this background, Evers’ statement is extremely unfortunate,” criticized Borchert.
The Finance Senator had said that so far neither the municipality of Wandlitz nor the state of Brandenburg nor the federal government had been interested in such a “generous gift” as the Bogensee area. The capital will not turn away from useful conceptual considerations if they are in the city’s interest and do justice to the complex historical significance of the area. “But if this should once again lead to nothing, as it has in the past decades, then the state of Berlin has no other option than to carry out the demolition in the way that has now been prepared and addressed by us,” said Evers.
The Federal Ministry of Construction announced on Friday: “We are currently in discussions with the stakeholders involved about a possible further development of the area. We do not comment on the current statements made by the Finance Senator.”
Goebbels had a country house built on the approximately 17 hectare area in a forest northeast of Berlin. During GDR times there was a youth college run by the Free German Youth (FDJ). The area has been unused and falling into disrepair since 2000.
Application for funding has been submitted
The Barnim district and the community want to prevent demolition and explore future uses. “The destruction of such historical evidence is not good for our society,” emphasized Borchert. The municipality of Wandlitz, in whose territory the site at Bogensee is located, has now submitted an application for funding from the “National Urban Development Projects” program. This year it is about projects that are primarily intended to promote democracy education. The site is exactly the right place for this, said the mayor. According to a conservative estimate so far, he named a sum of 500,000 to 600,000 euros in funding required.
The community now wants to develop a concept for continued use. Mayor Borchert names, among other things, a “center for resilience research for democracy” as well as a university campus, a rehabilitation clinic, a hotel or a federal agency as some of the considerations.
It is still unclear in which direction the development of the site may go in a few years. “There are a lot of questions to be clarified. We are at the beginning of the process,” said Borchert. A consultation appointment with the responsible Berlin real estate management company (BIM) is scheduled for mid-May. Temporary use is also initially planned. A training facility for the federal police was discussed, but the district and municipality rejected it. The area at Bogensee is not a “fighting city” with buildings for urban warfare, said Mayor Borchert.