We’ll continue our exploration of Berlin’s Bebelplatz, home to much of what is best and worst in the city’s history. Let’s pick up with the famous Hotel de Rome.
Hotel de Rome: From Banking Hub to Luxury Landmark
The stately building in Italian Renaissance style hosting the Hotel de Rome, standing right next to St Hedwig’s Catholic church, is far more than the luxurious five-star hotel it is today. As with so many buildings in Berlin, this place went through a dizzying array of contradictory uses. The building, originally constructed in 1889, began its life as the headquarters of the Dresdner Bank, an emblem of the financial prestige of the German Empire at its height. It continued in this role throughout the Weiman Republic and the National Socialist era. Although not a Nazi bank as such, the institution played a role in supporting the regime, as so many companies did.
After World War II, Berlin was carved into sectors, and Bebelplatz found itself in the Soviet-controlled East Berlin. The once-grand Dresdner Bank building was restored and repurposed as the Communist State Bank of the German Democratic Republic. In this new role, it became a hub of socialist economic planning, far removed from its origins in capitalist enterprise. It remained a center of East German financial administration until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when the reunification of Germany rendered its services obsolete. From an Imperial and Capitalist bank to a hub of the Communist centrally planned economy, I think we can agree that’s quite a swing!
But the building’s history as a sort of swinging pendulum of extremes hasn’t finished, as the structure has been repurposed again and rebranded as the luxury Hotel De Rome. As many of the original features of the building as possible have been preserved, and the hotel is a landmark destination and an amazing place to stay. Capitalist, to Communist, to Capitalist again, the march of time in Berlin continues.
The Dresdner Bank was built in 1889 as we saw, and therefore dates from well after the time of King Frederick the Great who began construction in this square, as we saw last time. However, in a larger sense, the bank’s former presence here is symbolically appropriate, insofar as the king was a firm believer in the role fiscal responsibility plays in running a modern state. So metaphorically, the building in its original guise fits in with the overall vibe of the square very nicely.
The Royal Library
Turn now to the enormous building erected directly opposite the Opera. This building, the last to be built by Frederick the Great here, was built as the Royal Library, and is today part of the Humbolt University. This structure gives you the chance to really see history writ in stone. Take a look at the architecture and you’ll notice that it looks and feels different from the Opera House and the main University building across the street (we’ll cover this building next).
The Library was built in the 1780s, well after the end of the Seven Years War, and Fredrich wanted to bring Berlin and the Kingdom of Prussia up to the standards found in other more developed parts of Europe. So, for his library building, he chose the Hofburg Palace of the Hapsburgs in Vienna as his model, importing high imperial pomp and prestige in the military powerhouse that was Prussia. We see again the attempt to «catch up» to other, more culturally advanced European states in this era.
The problem was, the Library was situated in the confines of a square, which was smaller than the space available for the original in Vienna. So, Frederick’s library had to be scrunched and reshaped and simplified a bit to fit in. But nevertheless, the king managed to usher in something of the high culture that he thought would transform Berlin into a modern form of ancient Athens, to stand along with the reputation the city already had of being the Sparta of the North. The Brandenburg Gate, completed under his successor, brought this drive to high culture to new heights.
Berliners, being the people they are, soon mocked the Royal Library, calling it «the Commode» due to its vague resemblance to a toilet. Personally, I don’t really see it, but that nickname has been around so long, it’s pointless to eradicate it now. Whatever the dark humor of the locals might be, the foundation of the public library outside the confines of the palace marked a strong symbolic move towards stressing the idea that a modern state required a modern, educated, well-read populace. For me, this represents Frederick’s greatest and most enduring architectural-philosophical legacy, and only serves to highlight the grimness of the 1933 book burning the took place in the square in front. Many books destined for the flames that night were indeed carted from the Royal Library.
After the war, the building became part of the expanded University, and if you look carefully at the stained glass above the main door, you can just make out the figures of the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, a feature added in the days of the DDR. It’s a fascinating place, worth the time to wander around.
The Palace of Kaiser Wilhelm I
Attached to the side of the Library, and facing the Unter den Linden, is an fairly non-descript neo-classical structure. This little structure was actually the preferred urban palace of the man under whom Germany was united as the Second Reich in 1871. Wilhelm went from being the King of Prussia to the German Kaiser (he continued being King of Prussia as well). This elevation was something he felt uncomfortable with, and he remained at heart a very simple, indeed spartan, leader who vastly preferred the simplicity of the palace here to the grandiose City Palace down the road. Being an essentially military man, he used to stand on the little balcony or look out his window at parades of soldiers marching past during those heady days after the foundation of the Reich.
The Humbolt University
Rounding out our exploration of the Bebelplatz is the grand building of the Humbolt University, across the Unter den Linden from the rest of the square. Built as the palace of Frederick the Great’s youngest brother in the mid 1750-60s, the enormous building became home to the Berlin University in 1810, later called the Friedrich Wilhelm University, until it was renamed by the communists as the Humbolt University after World War Two.
The palace was built as an architectural companion to the Opera House across the road in neo-classical style, yet it found its greatest fame as one of the world’s great universities. At the time of writing, there have been 56 Nobel Prize winners associated with the university. Among the greats, Hegel, Einstein and the Brothers Grimm either studied here or taught here. It’s been a real powerhouse of learning, and although the university was founded a few decades after the reign of Frederick, it very much reflects his love of learning and high culture.
Finally, the name. The Communist state renamed the square to the Bebelplatz after the war in honor of August Bebel, one of the early founders of what eventually became the Social Democratic Party, or SPD, and which still exists today. Although very much a square built by royal command and a product of the rich and powerful, the platz has always spoken of the power of the people to create a better world and the responsibility of an enlightened government to provide for that. The platz reflects this beautifully, from the roles played by high culture (Opera House) to toleration (St Hedwigs) to sound finance (The former bank building) to education and research (the Royal Library and University), all of which help ensure a prosperous nation. Yet the square also reminds us, via the book burning memorial, of the dangers of distorting and warping these qualities in the name of extremist, utopian ideologies.
Babelplatz is a powerful place and one of Europe’s most evocative squares. By all means spend as much time as you can strolling around and taking in all this place has to offer. If you go during December, you’ll find a Christmas market there, and during summer you’ll find various special events playing out on the historic square. It’s a place of memory and meaning, but also of everyday life and everyday joy.
