Representations of the Länder - new architecture
Bundesrat
Preußisches Herrenhaus - Seat of the Bundesrat (parliamentary representation of the Länder) in Berlin
Location: Leipziger Straße 3-4
The former Preußisches Herrenhaus, an important building in Prussian and German parliamentary history, has been converted for use by the Bundesrat, the parliamentary representation of the Länder. After the political changes of 1989/90, the building was originally earmarked for the Berlin offices of the five federal ministries remaining in Bonn, the 16 Länder having resolved in 1991 that the Bundesrat should remain in Bonn. In a second vote taken in 1996 on the initiative of Bavaria, the majority of the Länder decided to follow in the footsteps of the Bundestag (the Lower House of Parliament) and transfer their representations to Berlin.
Designed by the architect, Friedrich Schulze-Colditz, and erected on Leipziger Straße between 1899 and 1904, the Preußisches Herrenhaus was the seat of the Upper Chamber of the Prussian Parliament. Badly destroyed in the Second World War, the central section and western wing were rebuilt and used by the GDR Academy of Sciences. The eastern wing was assigned to what was then the Haus der Ministerien and is now the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus. This building now houses the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The former Preußisches Herrenhaus has been undergoing conversion to plans by the Hamburg architects, Schweger + Partner, since March 1997. The work was completed in May 2000. The central sequence of rooms consisting of the entrance hall (accessed from the cour d'honneur), the lobby and the plenary hall are again being used for the original purpose for which they were designed.
The plenary hall used to be the centre of the building as such and this is again the case when it is used by the Bundesrat. The scheme for the inner construction is based on an architectural synthesis between the past and the present which takes due account of the changed requirements. It has large openings in the walls placed all around at regular intervals and a transparent roof construction.
The seating in the plenary hall is in the form of a curved U. The representatives of the 16 Länder are being seated in front of the President of the Bundesrat and the representatives of the Federal Government in alphabetical order from Baden-Württemberg to Thuringia. Some 120 seats for visitors and the press spread around three sides of the hall and two camera positions are accommodated on the second floor.
The Bundesrat and the nearby Federal Ministry of Finance are co-operating closely with one another. Since they are both situated on a single property they have a joint supply and disposal system and a common underground car park.
The scheme for the outdoor areas make use of the classical elements of garden architecture - plants, earth, water and stone -and have a fountain as the centrepiece.
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Contact
Bundesrat
Leipziger Straße 3-4
11055 Berlin
Tel
++49 30 18 9100-0
Fax
++49 30 18 9100-400
Internet
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