Brief history of the Landtag building The long road from City Palace to Landtag Palace View of the Brandenburg Landtag building Table of contents 05 06 07 08 Twenty-Two Years to From Medieval Castle The Era of the Great The Palace Find the Parliament a to the Renaissance Elector Frederick and Prussian Permanent Home Palace of Katharina, William (1640-1688) Monarchy Electress of Saxony 10 11 12 14 The End of the The Demolition A New Beginning with Policy Decision City Palace Decision the Reconstruction of the Fortuna Gate 15 16 16 17 Fight of Potsdam’s The new Landtag The Ceremonial Architect and Building Citizenry for Takes On Shape Handover of Keys Design “Their Palace” to the Parliament’s President 20 The New Building and Surrounding Areas in Facts and Figures TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Brief history of the Landtag building: The long road from City Palace to Landtag Palace� 1. Twenty-Two Years to Find the On 16 January 1991, the Landtag re- Parliament a Permanent Home solved that the Brauhausberg was to be used as the site of the future parliament. Following the reunification of Germany The decision was preceded by the ru- on 3 October 1990 and the Brandenburg mour (unfounded, as it turned out) that Landtag elections on 14 October 1990, the structural safety of the plenary cham- the Landtag and the Land government ber at Heinrich-Mann-Allee, used up that were at first jointly housed in the former point, could not be guaranteed.� Even cadet school, previously the offices of though experts would not recommend the Potsdam District Council at Heinrich- the indefinite use of Havelblick 8 given its Mann-Allee 107, now home to the State inadequacy as a parliament building, the Chancellery. These are the same pre- members of parliament (MPs) neverthe- mises at which the Landtag of 1946 had less moved into the building (dubbed the previously met. However, accommodat- “Kremlin”) as soon as the most essen- ing the regional parliament on these pre- tial construction work had been complet- mises over the long term would have ed; the first plenary session ofLandtag meant housing the Land government Brandenburg on the Brauhausberg was on the Brauhausberg, a proposal that held on 25 September 1991. immedia tely met with considerable mis- After protracted discussions about a givings, in particular due to their previous permanent home for the parliament and use as the regional offices of the SED thanks to the dedicated efforts of citi- (Socialist Unity Party).� zens, organisations and sponsors who had already enabled the rebuilding of the “Fortunaportal” (Fortuna Gate), the Landtag passed a policy resolution on 1 Based on the publication “Das Potsdamer Stadt- schloss” (Potsdam City Palace) by Hans-Joachim 20 May 2005 paving the way for a new Giersberg (1998) and the “Baudokumentation building in the heart of Potsdam City that Neuer Landtag Brandenburg” (Building Documen- tation: New Landtag Brandenburg), published in would retain the façade of the old City 2014 by the Ministry of Finance. With gratitude to the city archaeologist Gundula Christl for valuable 3 See also: President of Landtag Brandenburg corrections. (publisher): “Von der Kriegsschule zum Parlament” 2 Press release from the Head of the State Chancel- (From Military Academy to Parliament). Potsdam lery Dr Jürgen Linde on 19 April 1991 2000. THE LONG ROAD FROM CITY PALACE TO LANDTAG PALACE 5 Palace which had been destroyed in a 2. From Medieval Castle to the British air raid in April 1945 and demol- Renaissance Palace of ished in 1959/60. The new building took Katharina, Electress of Saxony three-and-a-half years to complete and was handed over to Gunter Fritsch, who The site of the Palace is part of the ear- was Landtag President at the time, by liest settled areas of Potsdam. Archae- the then Minister of Finance of the State ologists have discovered that the site has of Brandenburg, Dr Helmuth Markov, on been settled repeatedly since the Stone 10 October 2013. In the 25th year of the Age, due to the location offering safety Peaceful Revolution, the opening of this from flooding. The city of Potsdam grew modern parliament building, set in its out of this site over the course of time. historical shell, signalled the closure of The first recorded mention of the a gaping scar on the urban landscape of Slavic fort “Poztupimi” dates back to the state capital since 1959. 933. The area west of the Slavic fort (at Completion of the Landtag was ini- the present intersection of Heilig-Geist- tially scheduled for late 2012 and the Strasse and Burgstrasse) was marked move into the new premises for early out with streets and residential quar- 2013. The move eventually took place ters as early as 1200. Directly beneath from 12 to 16 December 2013 enabling the carriage drive, archaeologists found the Parliament to start its work in the evidence suggesting a moated castle new building still in the very same year. built around 1320. In 1528, Elector Jo- The 6th Landtag was constituted on achim I built a fortified castle with five 8 October following the Landtag elec- towers on the site. In 1598/99, Elector tions of 14 September 2014. In her Joachim Friedrich then replaced this speech, newly elected Landtag presi- with a small palace intended for his wife dent Britta Stark pointed out among Katharina. The Palace was 60 metres other things: “For the first time we are long and measured 14 metres across. celebrat ing the constituent Landtag as- Its three floors contained a total of 38 sembly in our new Landtag building. rooms, including a large hall and what It stands here right in the middle of was known as a “Tafelstube” (dining Potsdam, in the midst of life. Since its room) on the second floor. opening in early 2014, we have been able However, as a result of the to draw almost as many visitors as the premature death of the Electress, the old Landtag did in 20 years! Our Landtag new building was never fully complet- is a very open house. I wish to retain this ed. After the equally premature death openness and I suggest that we hold an of his second wife Eleonore, the Elector open house weekend once a year, eventually lost all interest in the Palace and turn it into a feast of democracy. and spent his time in Joachimsthal to I want to offer our visitors not only a the north of Berlin. The Palace lost its beautiful building but also a site of attraction and was eventually pledged as democracy in action.” collateral. 6 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LANDTAG BUILDING Saved by archaeologists: 500 square metres of stone floor from the dining hall of the great Elector dating back to the 17th century. An “archaeological window” in the new Landtag building provides a view of its historic heritage. 3. The Era of the Great Elector The first floor of the main wing, the Frederick William (1640–1688) “Corps de Logis”, housed a prestigious hall, the latter-day “Marmorsaal” (Marble The Great Elector Frederick William ac- Hall). Situated on the ground floor below quired the Palace in 1660. He had a new and level with the “Lustgarten” was a palace built between 1664 and 1669 vaulted hall used as a pleasantly cool based on the Dutch model, but this rap- dining hall during the summer months idly proved to be too small and be- while also serving for funeral wakes for tween 1679 and 1682 was extended members of the Elector family. to twice the original length. The main The Great Elector issued the “Pots- build ing extended over three floors. damer Toleranzedikt” (Edict of Potsdam) With its enlarged and remodelled “Lust- from the City Palace in 1685: He invited garten” (Pleasure Garden), the Palace Protestant Huguenots, then persecuted became a prestigious residence and a in France on religious grounds, to live in dominant feature at Alter Markt in the Brandenburg in freedom and safety, and centre of town. The City Palace had by refugees were given generous privileges. then obtained the space it would occupy until its demolition in 1959/60, and which today is taken up by the Landtag. THE LONG ROAD FROM CITY PALACE TO LANDTAG PALACE 7 4. The Palace and Prussian of his palaces as possible and keep only Monarchy a few. The Potsdam City Palace was one of the few to remain in the king’s posses- Frederick I, First King of Prussia sion. In contrast to Charlottenburg Palace, (1688–1713) however, it was used as a family resi- The Elector Frederick III succeeded his dence rather than on state business. The father, the Great Elector, to the throne in vaulted basement was converted into a 1688. The new Kingdom of Prussia was wine cellar in 1726. Only minor repairs created on crowning himself King Fre- were undertaken to the rest of the Pal- derick I of Prussia at Königsberg in 1701. ace while Potsdam was converted to a In preparation for the coronation and to garrison city instead. As the city expand- reflect the new royal status, several ed, the regular division into districts re- striking changes were made to the exte- sulted in a distinct chessboard pattern rior of the Palace and the Lustgarten. and followed the lines of the main arteries A new entrance gate in the French style from the time of the Great Elector run- was built whereby the figure on top, For- ning towards the Palace. Urban develop- tuna (or goddess of good fortune) subse- ment thus centred entirely on the Palace quently gave rise to the name “Fortuna- whose location between the town centre portal”.