Abstract
This chapter examines a number of the “framework conditions” that accompanied built space changes in Berlin after German reunification. The legal and political forms that German reunification and administrative restructuring took were a fundamental prerequisite for the actions which came next and the power afforded the key actors. This chapter introduces the main actors who were in charge of spatial restructuring in the city, for example Hans Stimmann, Volker Hassemer and Dietrich Hoffmann-Axthelm, and goes into detail about the tactics and strategies that they used to realize their vision of Berlin. These included an extensive use of technocratic instruments such as expert committees and architectural competitions, as well as the effective suppression of opposition through simulated democratic participation, for example in the Stadtforum. In doing so, these actors effectively engendered consensus and delegitimized dissenting voices through their invocation of tropes of memory, identity and the “European city.”
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Notes
- 1.
In his article on the replacement of elites, Pasternack cites a study in which the proportion of West-to-East Germans in leading roles in East German institutions was recorded. High-ranking positions were filled predominantly by West Germans, for example in the former East German and East Berliner mass media (83.3%), federal government (85.9%), including federal ministers (92.3%), the military (90.2%), universities in former East Germany and East Berlin (54.8%), unions (54.2%), and courts in the former East Germany (92.1%) (Pasternack 2005, pp. 224–225). In this way, the West German worldview and structural understanding were imported into every aspect of daily life in the former East Germany, including education, legal decisions, work, and politics.
- 2.
In Berlin, the naming of senates follows the pattern (Name of mayor) (number of times he/she has been mayor). Thus, Diepgen III is the third senate run by Mayor Diepgen.
- 3.
Volker Hassemer was quoted as being proud of “having decided every important space in Berlin-Mitte” (Lenhart 2001, p. 198).
- 4.
The author would like to highlight that the actors listed above were, without exception, socialized in the Western context. Their formative professional years were fundamentally shaped by the Cold War conflict, which pervaded every aspect of daily life. For more information about Cold War tensions, in particular in their expression in architectural debates in Berlin, please see Chap. 3.
- 5.
For example, limited urban planning idea competition Potsdamer/Leipziger Platz (June to October 1991), international and open urban design competition Spreebogen (June 1992 to February 1993), limited urban design idea competition Friedrichstraße (September 1992 to February 1993), limited urban design idea competition Alexanderplatz (January to September 1993), international and open urban planning idea competition Spreeinsel (August 1993 to May 1994), and limited urban design idea competition Lehrter station (July to October 1994) (Lenhart 2001, p. 198).
- 6.
For a very detailed account, please see (Lenhart 2001, Chap. 2.4).
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Dellenbaugh-Losse, M. (2020). Identity, Politics, and the Creation of Consensus. In: Inventing Berlin. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29718-3_4
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