Furious debate over demolished palace may be Kaiser's revenge

THE HUGE machine looks like a mechanical brontosaurus, chewing on the remains of a five-storey concrete stairwell.

The beast's home is a massive crater in central Berlin that was once the site of the Kaiser's palace.

Its final meal, though, is another palace: the East German parliament building or "Palast der Republik", that closed its doors in 1990. As the final trace of the socialist structure vanishes today, a government-appointed jury will choose the winning design for the building set to occupy the now vacant site. There's little for them to decide: six years ago the German parliament voted to rebuild the old Kaiser's palace.

The neo-classical 18th century structure, topped by an elegant dome, survived the war in a battered but salvageable state.

But East German leader Walter Ulbricht viewed the Kaiser's palace as the cornerstone of a discredited regime and had it blown up in 1950.

Today's German government views the restoration of the palace as the best way to correct Ulbricht's revenge on the Kaiser.

In the rush to demolish the East German palace, though, it's been interesting to watch history repeat itself with the removal of all architectural traces of an out-of-favour regime.

Today's jury decision to choose the winning design is just the latest stage in a 20-year tug-of-war in the city between politicians and architects, city planners and ordinary Berliners over what to do with the most central site in the city.

There are two main camps in this palace drama. The first camp views the restoration of the palace with its neo-classical facade as the only way to heal an architectural wound at the start of Unter den Linden, restoring the harmonic balance with the street's other neo-classical facades: the opera house, the university and several museums.

The other camp, however, considers resurrecting a neo-classical building from the dead an unforgivable example of architectural kitsch, an expensive Frankenstein experiment that will haunt the city forever.

Tempers have flared in the last days, with a palace revolt headed by leading members of the jury to pick a new design. At the last minute, they are protesting at the 2002 Bundestag vote which prescribed three sides of the new building to be historically accurate reproductions of the old palace, while the fourth side could be an original design.

Architect Vittoria Lampugnani, head of the 17-member jury, told Der Spiegelmagazine it was irresponsible to force architects to reconstruct the past without the chance of letting the modern shine through.

"I oppose the idea that the palace is the best thing that would suit this site," he said. "If freedom of thought is no longer allowed and jury members are not permitted to have their own opinions, then architectural competitions should just be decided by functionaries." Another prominent architect on the jury suggested that it was a "professional betrayal" for an architect to support anything but a completely new, modern building on the palace site.

Their remarks have prompted outrage from the pro-palace camp. But after winning the first round of the palace battle - the demolition of the East German palace - this camp find themselves struggling to find a convincing use for the Kaiser's palace.

Initial proposals, including a shopping centre and hotel with underground car park, were quickly vetoed by the city government.

The current concept, called the "Humboldt Forum", would see the collections of African and Middle East art moved from their home in western Berlin and combined with a library, performance space and cafes.

But in a city with debts of €60 billion, it's hard work convincing people of the need to spend €550 million to house exhibits that already have a home elsewhere in the city.

Critics say it is in poor taste to house in a reconstructed home of Prussian imperialism a collection of exhibits which were in part plundered from former colonies.

The battle for the palace is far from over, but the mechanical brontosaurus enjoying its final concrete supper has drawn large crowds, all with different views on the site's future.

"I think we need a reconstruction of the original facade to make the street work," said Günther Nibbes. "There's plenty of other places where the architects can build their modern blocks."

Another passer-by shakes his head, dismissing the idea of a rebuilt palace as "Las Vegas".

The clearing of the palace site has not just created a spectacular new perspective on the city's television tower, it has given Berliners a new pragmatic perspective on the endless palace row.

"Build nothing. Turn it into a park," said Berliner Hannah Cleaver.

"Commission some wild new sculptures to make it interesting and keep the open space," she said.