Archive: The Capital City of Berlin - Documentation

Right from the beginning of the debate about relocation Berlin put a lot of emphasis on the creation of dynamic urban neighbourhoods. "Urban diversity" was the goal - stores, restaurants, and other service facilities were supposed to be located in the ground floor areas of parliamentary and government buildings. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the German Bundestag's buildings on Wilhelmstraße and Unter den Linden space for service facilities has been provided for, which has considerably added to these streets' overall vitality.

The demand for an accessible Government Quarter accompanied discussions about the design and construction concepts at the Spreebogen and Spreeinsel from the outset. The security demands of the various government institutions was considered to be very important throughout the entire planning process, but was supposed to be dealt with mainly from within the buildings themselves. In the public open space outside the buildings access to motor vehicles was supposed to be limited because of the danger of large car-bomb attacks. For this reason it was necessary to provide for a safety clearance area around the Chancellery and the Reichstag, which was achieved by limiting traffic and adding numerous bollards. When the situation demands it, the government area has to be cordoned off due to reasons of security. World-wide terror attacks, especially the one which occurred on 11 September 2001 in New York, have created a need for increased security in Berlin as well. Even pedestrians now have to be seen as poising a security risk, as numerous suicide bombings have shown.