Alt Berlin
Contrary to popular belief, the city's oldest building is not to be found in the legendary historic Nikolaiviertel district, but in Spandau's Old Town: it's the Juliusturm, built in 1200! An astonishing fortification now embedded in the mighty citadel. But let's return to the Nikolaiviertel, an astonishing district that was razed to the ground by the Communist regime before being rebuilt identically, with its narrow cobbled streets, its market square and above all its two churches, which are fortunately authentic. The Nikolaikirche, originally Romanesque, is today one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture, thanks in particular to its superb choir and above all its aisles, typical of hall churches, with their imposing dimensions, powerful verticality and airy vaults covering an interior space that no pillar can break. In Spandau's old town, fine examples of civil Gothic architecture can still be admired, including the Gothic House with its fluted vault dating from 1500. The historic city wall is also still visible, but it is of course the imposing citadel that still catches the eye today. Two Italian architects (Chiaramella Gandino and Rocco Guerrini) presided over the construction of this powerful quadratic brick building, protected by four pointed bastions rather than rounded ones, which earned it the name of "Italian citadel". Prince-Elector Joachim II, the instigator of these works, also commissioned the construction of numerous hunting lodges, the most beautiful of which is undoubtedly the Grünewald Pavilion, designed by Caspar Theiss in the purest Renaissance style, with its immaculate white façade, powerful portal and large sandstone-framed windows. Theiss was also responsible for the first alterations to Berlin Castle, which, with its square courtyard, corner towers and gabled roofs, was transformed from a fortress into a country residence.
From Baroque to Neoclassical
After the horrors of the Thirty Years' War, the German princes were eager to assert their power, and to do so, they turned to the Baroque, which was inseparable from the staging of power. Trompe-l'œil and optical illusions, lighting effects, a wealth of decorations ranging from gilded plasterwork to painted wood imitating marble, the interplay between architecture and urban spaces, notably through sumptuous staircases: Baroque offered an infinite range of architectural possibilities. The city's oldest Baroque building is the Arsenal, a majestic quadrilateral with a stone-paved courtyard of vast proportions and a columned central forecourt. It bears the hallmark of Andreas Schlüter, director of the Academy of Arts and one of the great masters of the Baroque, who also worked on Berlin's Royal Palace. Pushed to the limit, Baroque eccentricities gave way to Rococo fantasies, the finest examples of which can be seen in the Galerie Dorée at Charlottenburg Palace, in the astonishing "golden banter" of the Tea Pavilion at Schloss Sans-Souci, and on the façade of the Palais Ephraïm in the heart of the Nikolaiviertel, with its Tuscan columns, pilasters and gilded railings.
By the end of the 18th century, Berlin had become the capital of the world, and was adorned in the colors of neoclassicism. The founding building of this style and period is the Brandenburg Gate, designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans. This triumphal arch, built in the Doric style of Athenian temples, marked the beginning of a new era. From then on, no more imposing castles or churches were built, but new temples: those of knowledge and commerce. Museums, theaters, universities and banks all received sumptuous facades with porticos, pediments and cornices, in an idealization of ancient codes. The great architect of the period was Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who achieved a perfect fusion of ancient formal language and functionality. A royal architect, member of the Commission Supérieure d'Architecture and general superintendent of buildings, Schinkel allowed harmonious clarity and purity of line to express themselves in Berlin. His masterpieces include the Altes Museum, with its colonnades and large circular central hall, and the Schauspielhaus on the Gendarmenmarkt, framed by the high domes of the French and German churches, which resembles a Greek temple with its superb peristyle. As a "reaction" to the rigor of neoclassical lines, landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné imagined English-style gardens where nature should appear fortuitous and harmonious... in a word: free! A harbinger of the modern world to come, Lenné imagined his green spaces as health and social amenities..
The rise of modernity
The 19thcentury marked a turning point for Berlin. Industrialization and rural exodus transformed the city's outskirts, leading to the creation of suburbs where the ever-growing population found refuge in Mietskaserne, rental barracks - poorly ventilated, poorly lit housing complexes with unsanitary backyards. The city grew without any real planning, with the exception of anti-fire measures setting the maximum size of backyards at 28.52m2: the radius of a fire hose's reach! Faced with this disastrous situation, Alfred Messel laid the cornerstone of social housing reform in 1893 with the Sickingenstrasse buildings, which paved the way for the large-scale housing projects of the following century. At the same time, numerous historic monuments were restored, and a trend towards neo-styles, led by the neo-Romanesque, began to emerge, much appreciated by the bourgeoisie now in power. Paul Wallot's Reichstag, completed in 1894, is a perfect example of this recourse to history, borrowing motifs from the Baroque and Italian Renaissance, while at the same time daring to create a striking aesthetic contrast between the antique columns and the great glass and iron dome - a feat for the time! But it was at the turn of the 20th century that Berlin was truly transformed into an architectural laboratory by the masters of modernism. It all began with Peter Behrens, a unique personality with a wealth of expertise. As an architect, he was responsible for the AEG Turbinenhalle, a milestone in modern architecture. High and clear, with transparent frames and refined volumes, this factory is ennobled by the architecture that transforms it into an industrial temple. Between the strict cubism of the building's body and the Doric order of its neoclassical lines, Behrens achieves a fusion that serves an imagery: that of the AEG brand. For Behrens was not only an architect, but also an artistic advisor to the brand, whose identity he designed via logos and objects, thus becoming the father of German designers who still find Berlin a creative Eldorado today! In contrast to these clean lines, Erich Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower has become one of the icons of Expressionist architecture. A sculpture of dazzling white convex and concave forms, the observatory tower reinvents the function-aesthetic link. Although the Bauhaus did not leave its mark on Berlin in the long term, its teachings on functionality, rationalism and objectivity had a major influence on the design of the large-scale housing projects that flourished in the city until the 1930s. The aim was to provide the working masses with light, airy housing in community complexes with green spaces and infrastructure, all at lower cost thanks to standardized construction. You can recognize these large housing estates by their white plaster or bright colors, flat roofs and rows of windows. This architectural rationalism is particularly evident in Bruno Taut and Martin Wagner's Horseshoe in Berlin-Britz, and in Hans Scharoun and Walter Gropius's incredible Siemenstadt, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008!
From one extreme to the other
The architecture of the Nazi regime could be summed up as a stage for power and its quasi-religious cult. The use of cut stone (granite or limestone) in an almost systematic mineral pavement symbolizes the return to fundamentals and the stability of power, while the monumentality of the buildings is intended to reduce man to an insignificant part of an anonymous crowd. The very first Nazi building was Heinrich Wolff's monumental Reichsbank. But the buildings still standing today that best demonstrate this architectural megalomania are, of course, Tempelhof airport, enlarged in 1936 and 1941 to satisfy the Führer's desires, and of course the Olympic Stadium, whose cyclopean, streamlined concrete structures leave the visitor speechless. But the Führer's vision for Berlin went even further, entrusting his architect Albert Speer with the task of imagining an entirely new city: Germania. Assuming the destruction of existing buildings, Germania was to be structured around a North-South axis, a gigantic ceremonial avenue with a triumphal arch designed by Hitler himself, linking the world's largest railway station to the Great Hall, a monumental delirium topped by a dome 290 m high and 250 m in diameter. In terms of style, Germania drew on ancient references, with huge, elongated buildings covered in limestone slabs in endless rows of high pillars and windows... But the project never saw the light of day.
The 20th century left its mark on the city. First ravaged by war, Berlin then felt the weight of the division into two blocs, as reflected in the architecture of the time. In the East, the Communist regime imposed its law on architecture and urban planning: Prussian heritage was razed to the ground, wide tree-lined avenues were developed like Karl-Marx-Allee, and the national heritage was highlighted by the classical lines of buildings of monumental proportions, especially public buildings. But the socialist city had to cope with a high population density that needed to be accommodated quickly and cheaply: this was the advent of the Plattenbau, large, soulless blocks of flats. At the same time, the regime created imposing visual landmarks in the city, starting with the now-famous Television Tower dominating Alexanderplatz, which was also redeveloped with a host of functional buildings. By the end of the 1970s, however, the Communist regime had shifted its focus from destroying to rebuilding, and had turned its attention to the city's historical heritage. West Berlin is no exception! A dynamic figure of Western capitalism, West Berlin was equipped with new service infrastructures combining luxury, commerce and leisure, such as the Europa Center, whose large windows and sober lines were reminiscent of the international style in vogue at the time. Mies Van der Rohe designed the Neue Nationalgalerie, with its steel hall and temple-like, all-glass facade, a direct descendant of Schinkel's Altes Museum; while Hans Scharoun broke the mould with his Philharmonie, a masterpiece of organic architecture, with its airy, curved roofs and interior designed entirely as a showcase for music.
The revival
Reunification marked the start of a new era for the city, which at last reclaimed its entire territory, notably developing all the areas left abandoned during the period of separation, most notably the banks of the Spree. From the 1990s onwards, leading international architects left their mark on the city. Norman Foster transformed the Reichstag, designing a new, transparent interior space topped by a delicately rounded dome. Jean Nouvel's Galeries Lafayette is a surprise breakthrough in department store architecture. It's impossible not to marvel at the play of mirrors created by this astonishing inverted glass cone, creating a shaft of light at the heart of the building. Daniel Liebeskind, for his part, is rethinking museum architecture with his astonishing Jewish Museum , whose structure, made up of advances and retreats, empty spaces and cuts, and reproducing part of the Star of David, represents the history of the Jewish people... Deconstructing in order to better construct and inscribe history within the place where it was written. The city is also rethinking its urban planning through large-scale projects. Potsdamer Platz is undoubtedly the most famous example. On the one hand, Renzo Piano and Helmut Jahn imagined a European-style district with narrow streets and tree-lined squares (Daimler City), and on the other an American-style plaza with glass and steel giants linked by a superb unfolded canvas (Sony Center). Other must-see buildings in the district include the neo-baroque Panoramapunkt and Renzo Piano's luminous Debis Tower, not to mention Richard Rogers' Arkaden am Potsdamer Platz shopping mall. The other flagship urban renewal project is the Band des Bundes, the government district, which harmoniously combines modern architecture with German tradition. Launched in 1995, this urban redevelopment project was the world's largest ever call for tenders, involving no fewer than 835 architects! But it was with the inauguration of the grandiose Hauptbahnhof in 2006 that the district really came into its own. Designed by Meinhard Von Gerkan, the Hauptbahnhof is Europe's largest railway station, with its incredible 321 m glass concourse following the east-west railroad line, itself crossed by a 160 m concourse following a north-south axis. From this luminous "cathedral of transport", walk along the Spree and discover the contemporary treasures on offer, starting with the Federal Chancellery, with its glass façade symbolizing the transparency of government, punctuated by 12 m-high steles symbolizing stability and permanence. The 2000s also saw the revival of the historic embassy district, under the impetus of famous architects such as Rem Koolhaas, who designed the Dutch embassy, an astonishing 8-storey glass cube linked by a spiral circulation, creating a clever interplay of views and perspectives. Also noteworthy is Hans Hollein's organic Austrian embassy, with its unstructured envelope covered in patinated copper, not to mention the Nordic embassy, which, behind its undulating façade, houses 5 embassies designed in the colors of their respective countries. The 2000s were also the period of extensions that harmoniously linked the past and the future. Among the most emblematic are Ieoh Ming Pei's new building for the Museum of German History, with its beautiful spiral glass staircase; Chipperfield's extension to the Neues Museum, with its fine lines and harmonious integration with the existing building thanks to the dialogue created between polished raw concrete, white cement and brick; and Norman Foster's astonishing Philological Library at the Freie Universität, a luminous, airy structure in the shape of a brain. And don't miss the work of Sergei Tchoban. He was responsible for the surprising Nhow Hotel on Stralauer Allee, with its aluminum cube cantilevering towards the Spree and contrasting with the industrial brickwork of the rest of the building. He also designed the Tchoban Foundation. The building's elegant, staggered sandstone-colored cubes are carved in patterns borrowed from architectural drawings, a nod to the building's function as home to the Museum of Architectural Drawing since 2013. Always in search of renewal and attracting the greatest international architects and designers, Berlin has not forgotten its past, as evidenced by Berlin Castle, the once grandiose Baroque residence of the Prussian kings, which since 2021 has been home to the Humboldt Forum.
