BERLINERISMS PART 3: COSMIC LIGHT AND PREGNANT OYSTERS ERICHS LAMPENLADEN / BALLAST DER REPUBLIK / PALAZZO PROZZI Erich´s Lamp Shop / The Ballast of The Republic / The Flaunt-It Palace (“prozzi” from protzen – to show off, to flaunt) were all typical Berlin-nicknames for the former Palast Der Republic in Berlin-Mitte. The building was the seat of East German parliament, the People´s Chamber and a well-known meeting-point for the citizens of East Berlin and beyond. The name Erichs Lampenladen was given to the house because of its particularly fancy lighting system: endless rows of what is today considered to be designer ceiling lamps with over 10,000 glass spheres holding the light-bulbs inside created an unforgettable impression on all those who entered. The actual costs of construction, which might have been as high as M 1 billion, earned it the name of the Ballast der Republik while the Swedish steel, Belgian mirrored windows, Meißner porcelain decorations and hydraulic lifts for the dance-floors explained the other nickname, Palazzo Prozzo. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Also known as Kongresdampfer (Congress Steamer), Raumschiff Orion (Space-ship Orion after the first German sci-fi TV series „Space Patrol Orion”) or Panzerkreuzer Protzki (Armoured Cruiser HMS Flaunt-It). Official name: Internationales Congress Centrum Berlin. The big brother of the Bierpinsel. Built in 1979 in Berlin´s Westend at the staggering cost of DM 924 million (EUR 1,030,739,000) and opened only three years after the East Berlin Palast der Republik. Those two buildings, although built in two different cities, had a lot in common; both were ridiculously expensive, both were ridden with asbestos (whose indecent costs of removal only added insult to injury) and both became pretty much useless. However, only one of them is still standing. And it is not Erich´s Lampenladen. SCHWANGERE AUSTER (Pregnant Oyster) Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of The Cultures of The World) in Berlin-Tiergarten, built in 1957 by an US architect Hugh Stubbins as a gift from the US Government in time for the International Building Exhibition in Berlin. Nicknamed Leuchturm der Freiheit (lighthouse of freedom) it was meant to radiate Western values towards East Berlin. Sadly, what the DDR sent back were the Soviet jet fighters whose supersonic boom was most likely the reason for the sudden collapse of Pregnant Oyster´s roof in 1980, killing one and injuring many. The jets had the task of disturbing the meetings of Western organisations taking place in West Berlin. The building was re-built and re-opened in 1987 in time for the 750th birthday of the city of Berlin. The 1950s style of the interior was preserved. Schwangere Auster is a listed building. Images: Palast der Republik´s main foyer (DHM), Berlin´s ICC (image: avantique on wikimedia) and The Pregnant Oyster under construction.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 07:00:00 +0000
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