page_title: Palace of the Republic, Berlin
section_title: Seat of the Volkskammer
hierarchical_section_title: Palace of the Republic, Berlin / History / Seat of the Volkskammer
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: 03.05.1986 DDR 1000 [10178] Berlin-Mitte, Marx-Engels-Platz: Palast der Republik (GMP: 52.517683,13.402373): 1973-1976 nach Entwürfen der Kollektive H. Graffunder, W. Eisentraut, Ch. Schulz, K.-E. Swora, M. Prasser und H. Aust. Gebäudekomplex von 85 x 180 m, etwa 480 000 m3 umbauter Raum. Kongreßsaal mit 5000, Sitzungssaal mit 700 Plätzen. Mehrere Gastronomische Einrichtungen mit insgesamt 1500 Plätzen. [R19860503B03.TIF]19860503400NR.JPG(c)Blobelt
context_page_description: The Palace of the Republic was a building in Berlin that hosted the Volkskammer, the parliament of the German Democratic Republic, from 1976 to 1990.
  The Palace of the Republic or "People's Palace" was located on Museum Island in the Mitte area of East Berlin, on the site of the former Berlin Palace between the Lustgarten and Schlossplatz, near the West Berlin border. The Palast was completed in 1976 to house the Volkskammer, also serving various cultural purposes including two large auditoria, art galleries, a theatre, 13 restaurants, a bowling alley, a post office, and a discothèque.
  In 1990, the Palast became vacant following German reunification and closed for health reasons due to over 5000 tonnes of asbestos in the building despite being outlawed in construction in East Germany in 1968. In 2003, the Bundestag voted for the demolition of the Palast and replacement with a reconstruction of the Berlin Palace which had been demolished in the 1950s. The Palast was demolished between 2006 and 2008, and the reconstruction of the Berlin Palace began in 2013 to be completed by 2020.
context_section_description: The Palast was officially opened on 23 April 1976 and its facilities were opened to the public two days later.
  Numerous important cultural, political, academic, and social events of the German Democratic Republic occurred at the Palast after its opening. Concerts of famous orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Kurt Masur, modern interpretations of classical music such as the Messiah of George Frideric Handel, and performances by Bulat Okudzhava (29 November 1976), Harry Belafonte (25 October 1983), Karel Gott (1983),  1986 with Dara Rolins and Heidi Janků, , 1987 ) or of the rock-band Purple Schulz (21 January 1989). German electronic music group Tangerine Dream performed a concert recorded live at the Palast on 31 January 1980 which also was Johannes Schmoelling's first live performance with the band. The concert was unique in that Tangerine Dream was the first Western group who was allowed by the GDR government to play in East Berlin at the time and was dubbed "the performance behind the Iron Curtain". An album of this recorded concert was released titled Quichotte on East German record label Amiga, and later released to the rest of the world on Virgin Records six years later and renamed Pergamon. In October 1983, the West German rock star Udo Lindenberg was permitted to perform in concert at the Palast  At the concert, Lindenberg did not sing one of his best-known songs, "Sonderzug nach Pankow" ("Special Train to Pankow"), which satirized East German leader Erich Honecker, as he was asked not to play it. Additionally, in April 1987, American Latin rock band Santana did two concerts here.
  The Socialist Unity Party (SED), the ruling party of the GDR, held party congresses at the Palast and a state gala was held on the eve of the 40th (and final) anniversary of the GDR in October 1989, at which Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was present. During the night of 22–23 August 1990, the Volkskammer decided in the Palast on the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany with effect from 3 October 1990, known as German reunification. 
  The Palast had many nicknames in the Springer press in West Berlin and among East German citizens, such as "Palazzo Prozzo" (a wordplay, as 'protzen' means 'to show off') or "Erichs Lampenladen" (Erich Honecker's lamp shop).
caption: The front facade of the Palace of the Republic in 1986 from Unter den Linden.
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