State Library Potsdamer Strasse

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
State Library Potsdamer Strasse
Berlin State Library Potsdamer Strasse.jpg
Data
place Berlin
architect Hans Scharoun
Construction year 1967-1978
height 42 m
Floor space 19,400 m²
Coordinates 52 ° 30 '27 "  N , 13 ° 22' 14.5"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '27 "  N , 13 ° 22' 14.5"  E
The building on a postage stamp dating from 1978

The state library on Potsdamer Strasse was built from 1967 to 1978 according to plans by the architect Hans Scharoun . It is the seat of the Berlin State Library , next to the Unter den Linden State Library . The building is located in the Berlin district of Tiergarten in the Mitte district , near Potsdamer Platz and is part of the Berlin Cultural Forum . After Scharoun's death in 1972, the work was completed by his student and long-time employee Edgar Wisniewski , who had also played a key role in the project beforehand. The golden building, also known as the “book ship”, is Scharoun's largest structure. The construction costs amounted to 226.5 million German marks .

Despite no fewer peculiarities and, from today's point of view, ideas that some perceive as bad planning, the striking building is still often considered a reference in the field of library architecture. This is not only due to the openness of the spatial composition, but also to the numerous details of Hans Scharoun's style, which is attributed to organic building and which made the Berlin Philharmonic famous.

Origin and use

Contemporary history background

→ See also: History of the State Library

The Berlin State Library was originally located in the Unter den Linden State Library . Due to the special circumstances of the division of Germany and the city of Berlin after the Second World War , the collection was also divided; large parts of the city had been evacuated during the war and were now in the territories of the Western Allies. The holdings of the State Library in West Germany were initially housed in the building of the Marburg University Library in 1946 and opened there as the Hessian Library , which was renamed the West German Library in 1949 . The story of the new building at the Kulturforum began later:

  • In 1957, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation was established with the task of “returning as soon as possible the cultural assets that were relocated from Berlin due to the war”. However, due to constitutional disputes between the federal and state governments, the foundation was only able to start work in Berlin four years later.
  • In 1961, the 300th anniversary of the Berlin State Library took place in both parts of the city. A journalistic campaign by the GDR on the “Marburg book grave” increased the pressure to act on the western side. This year, the Senate Building Director Werner Düttmann presented his own designs for a new building for the State Library on Kemperplatz, but these did not convince the Board of Trustees.
  • In May 1963, the Board of Trustees decided to advertise an architectural competition for the new building of the State Library at the Kulturforum . Scharoun applied - a few weeks after his then controversial Philharmonic opened on the opposite side of the street.
  • On July 9, 1964, Scharoun won first prize. His design also included a Senate guest house on the opposite side of Potsdamer Strasse , which, however, was never to be realized.
  • The office of the State Library was set up in Berlin and initially housed in the Bendler Block, where the Federal Ministry of Defense resides today .
  • In 1965 the collections from the West German Library began to be returned to Berlin. Because of the ownership claims of the GDR, it was decided to transport it by air. Scharoun attended libraries in Basel , Munich , Stuttgart , London , New York , San Francisco , Stanford , Chicago , Washington , Boston , Yale and Princeton for study purposes .
  • In 1966, the Board of Trustees decided to integrate the Ibero-American Institute into the new building of the State Library. The previously planned restaurant at the same location was deleted from the plans.

construction time

The building history of the State Library is characterized by a notorious number of quarrels, irregularities and conflicts. At the time, Der Spiegel spoke of a "building chronicle scandaleuse" that "adhered to the typical features of a masterpiece". Indeed, conflicts between the artistic demands of the architect and the library's ideas repeatedly led to coordination problems and changes to the plan. Scharoun himself saw his often criticized working style of constant change as a healthy part of the architectural process: in 1970 he said he wished “that instead of perfection, improvisation should apply, which keeps the path of development open”. In doing so, however, he was obviously referring to conceptual changes, not to the repetitive changes for technical or financial reasons during the construction of the State Library.

The estimates for both the construction time and the costs were gradually revised upwards over time. The reason for this was not only the extremely complicated construction and statics challenges, but also the individuality of the building: "There is hardly any repetition in this house," said the building director Hans Wurzler at the time. Because of the numerous custom-made constructive elements that were required, the project repeatedly ran into substantial time and financial problems.

The initial 90 million marks and five years of construction (estimate at the start of construction) finally became 226.5 million marks and eleven years. The SPD member Rudolf Walther blasphemed at that time about a "genius surcharge". The fact that the huge building project could finally be carried out in the consistency that followed is seen today primarily as the merit of Scharoun's long-time employee Edgar Wisniewski, who continued the artistic direction after Scharoun's death in 1972 until the building was completed in 1978 .

  • The foundation stone was laid on October 10, 1967. In fact, construction had been going on for five months at this point: Due to the poor order situation in Berlin, the decision was made to move ahead - even though the execution drawings had not yet been completed.
  • In 1969, the second construction phase began, which includes the central reading room, the foyers and the concise high storey. Already in this year (not just after Scharoun's death, as is often reported), the Scharoun office's expansion plans were withdrawn and their responsibility was limited to "artistic management". Scharoun himself, whose career was notoriously often marked by such interventions, obviously found this intervention particularly painful.
  • In 1970 the construction costs were estimated precisely for the first time: 155.34 million marks.
  • In 1971 the first construction phase, the northern administration wing, was completed and put into operation in June. Previously in May, the implementation planning was transferred from the Scharoun office to the Federal Building Department .
  • In July 1972, an air dome was built east of the construction site in order to accelerate the return of the collections from their exile in Marburg. When the hall was only filled to around a quarter of its full capacity of two million volumes, hurricane Quimburga in November 1972 destroyed the building's fragile outer shell.
  • Hans Scharoun died on November 25, 1972 at the age of 79.
  • The topping-out ceremony took place on November 16, 1973 . It was assumed that the building would be completed by 1976.
  • In 1975, the books began to move into the new building, which was completed in September 1976. The Court of Auditors criticized Scharoun's plans as being inadequate in many cases and complained that he had also "constantly changed them while they were being carried out".
  • On June 30, 1977 the third construction phase (Ibero-American Institute and event halls) was completed. The office of the West German Library in Marburg was finally closed.

Installation

The opening ceremony took place on December 15, 1978, at which, among others, Federal President Walter Scheel , the Governing Mayor of Berlin Dietrich Stobbe , Federal Interior Minister Gerhart Baum and the General Director of the State Library Ekkehart Vesper spoke.

The memorial plaque in the east foyer

After the building was opened to the public two days later, the library was also repeatedly the location of representative events - as the most expensive, largest and newest building in West Berlin at the time, it attracted political celebrities. The state visit of the French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on October 29, 1979, achieved some fame. His speech, which ended with the words “La liberté de Berlin, c'est aussi la nôtre” (“The freedom of Berlin is also ours “), It stopped in the east foyer of the State Library. A bronze plaque commemorates the important sentence there today.

Among other things, because of the high organizational effort involved in such larger festive events in the library building, these were forbidden again only a short time later by the then general director.

Renovations

Despite the high frequency of use by users, the building has so far managed without a general renovation, for which the building would have to be closed. Over the years, however, numerous so-called functional adjustments have been made, expansions and renovations, which mean a not inconsiderable effort during ongoing operations:

  • In 1991 the two-storey underground car park (capacity: 1.8 million volumes) went into operation. The renovation, which cost 32 million marks, turned out to be disproportionately complex: although the original plans included the expansion, insufficient consideration was given to the structural implementation at the time, so that all kinds of air conditioning and supply channels now led through the underground car park, which were very costly during the renovation had to be killed.
  • In 2001, an extensive functional adjustment was completed with a budget of six million euros. This included, among other things, the addition of 120 reading room workplaces, the redesign of the lending desk, the partial replacement of the floor, the switch to electronic catalog search and the establishment of workplaces with Internet access. A total of 17 kilometers of cable were laid during the renovation work; Because of the complicated room structures, the cabling was correspondingly complex. The construction time, during which the reading room was closed and only the special reading rooms were accessible, was 16 weeks. Later on, the internet-based catalog research was to make a large part of the research stations obsolete again, so that a large area is now free in the foyer at their former location.
The light domes sealed for renovation in the reading room, 2011
  • Asbestos has been removed from the entire building since 2006. Due to the decision not to close the building for this, but to carry out the work during ongoing operations, costs and construction time are naturally above the usual framework. The blocking of the vertical magazine in 2010 led to restrictions in the availability of stocks, which was clearly noticeable in the number of users (only around 25,000 registered users on average compared to around 35,000 in 2009 and 2011). In the reading room, too, due to the renovation of the light pyramids and the light domes (see section → Reading room ), different areas were not accessible at times . During the renovation, the complex air conditioning technology was brought up to date (see also section → Building technology ) .
  • In September 2019, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced that the building would be “redesigned in accordance with the heritage” in the next few years by the architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp).

New buildings and expansion

Even after the expansion into the underground car park in 1991, the magazine quickly reached its capacity limit - a development that had already been foreseen and planned accordingly: as early as the 1980s, the Berlin Senate had reserved a plot of land for an extension near Potsdamer Strasse. Despite the renewal in 1990, the promise was not kept; Instead, the plans fell victim to the not undisputed sale of the site to Daimler-Benz . Obviously, debis was originally prepared to provide an extension to the State Library in place of the theater on Potsdamer Platz, but the topic came up in the context of the debate about the merging of the East and West German State Library (which at that time also included the continuation of the Unter den Linden house was questioned) to a political issue, so that a new building was abandoned. Because the new building in the immediate vicinity was no longer possible, an external external magazine was finally planned in Friedrichshagen (see also the main article on the Berlin State Library ) .

Between utilization and overload

While there were still fears at the opening that the capacity of the reading room would be oversized and that it could remain orphaned, the number of visitors continued to rise, at the peak (2003/4) even the official capacity limit of the reading room areas (850 people) was exceeded . At peak times, users sometimes took their places on the stairs because there were no more tables available, admission was blocked due to overcrowding and new visitors were only allowed in in “exchange” with those who were leaving the building. The situation only eased when the new buildings of the larger university libraries gradually opened in Berlin: the natural science library of the Humboldt University in Adlershof (2003), the central library of the TU and UdK Berlin (2004), the philological library of the Free University of Berlin (2005) and the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Center at Humboldt University (2009).

In 2006 the day ticket was finally abolished, since then only monthly and annual tickets have been offered for library use. However, this is primarily associated with security considerations; one would like to have registered users.

The number of registered users (i.e. users with an annual or monthly pass) has decreased from a monthly average of around 45,000 in 2004 to around 35,000 in 2011. At the moment the house still has around 3,500 visitors per day, but the maximum capacity utilization of the reading room area is “only” around 500 visitors on average (as of August 2011).

architecture

Allegedly, the night before the submission of the competition materials, Scharoun said to his employees, who still want to make changes and improvements to details: “Stop it! The idea works. ”He was proven right in his assessment. Despite its shortcomings, the building is still regarded by many as a reference building for library architecture. “This building is a miracle!” Is said to have said the Italian architect Renzo Piano when he visited Potsdamer Strasse in 2006.

location

The area around the Kulturforum is "historically contaminated": parts of Albert Speer's vision of the " world capital Germania " were to be implemented here. The area around the Matthäikirche was still a densely built-up residential area until the mid-1930s, but it was almost completely demolished to make room for the structures planned by Speer. The first and only building to be built (roughly on the site of today's New National Gallery ) was the Tourism House , on which work was stopped shortly before completion in 1942. The building was to become part of the north-south axis , which was to expand at this point into the so-called Round Square , to which Potsdamer Strasse originally also led. The ruins were torn down in 1964, and a fragment of the building's wall can now be viewed in the south inner courtyard of the State Library.

The back of the State Library can be seen through the gap between the theater and the casino
The anodized aluminum plates on the rear facade of the casino refer to the golden outer skin of the State Library's magazine

At the time of the tender for the architectural competition for the State Library, the area around St. Matthew's Church was largely wasteland . The position of the building site for the State Library was not chosen by chance, however: the town planners of the time placed the triangle of land for the competition in the middle of the course of the original Potsdamer Strasse. At that time (at the time of the Berlin Wall ) this led to nowhere, but according to the Germania plans it would have been one of the feeder roads for the Round Square. With the construction of the State Library, Potsdamer Strasse was transferred to its current tour and the remaining part was renamed Alte Potsdamer Strasse . Scharoun also referred to this fact in terms of design by placing the building like a bolt in the path of the old street - with this deliberate destruction of the old street grid, Scharoun wanted to break with the Nazi past of the city and also manifest the new cultural beginning in urban planning.

The Theater am Potsdamer Platz and the Spielbank Berlin , which were designed by Renzo Piano and are "back to back" with the State Library, refer to this historical fact: A gap between the two buildings reveals the rear of the State Library - and reminds of the “blockade” of the (old) Potsdamer Strasse by the “book ship”. On their facade, the buildings pay a further homage to the Scharoun building: over 14,000 m² are clad with anodized aluminum panels, the color and surface structure of which are based on the golden outer shell of the State Library. The view from the State Library to the back of the casino and theater becomes, so to speak, a “look in the mirror”.

Outdoor area

The largest building by Hans Scharoun with a length of almost 230 meters is reminiscent of a ship's bow with its wedge-shaped floor plan. In the media it was therefore often referred to as “book ship”, “book steamer” or “ocean liner” (or with negative connotation as “battleship”).

In fact, from a distance, the building looks quite massive at first. In particular, the large, golden “book spine”, the 42-meter-high magazine , can be seen from a great distance and, with its windowless wall, makes for a rather closed impression at first glance. Only at one end of the front is it pierced by four square openings in the glass brick walls by Alexander Camaro (see section Art in Architecture ) . As you get closer, the base of the structure becomes more recognizable and the lines clearer: the magazine grows out of a base of finely structured, nested building elements that are terraced. With this horizontal staggering, the building, which runs from north to south, opens up towards the Kulturforum and continues in relation to the urban landscape that surrounds the building.

On the other hand, the magazine drops off steeply on the back. At the time of the competition in 1963, a motorway bypass was planned behind the building (an extension of the western bypass ; this function is now taken over by the Tiergarten Spreebogen TTS tunnel ). It is often claimed that the building is "shielded" on this side and has only a few windows on the back, which is not entirely correct: Almost all of the administration offices are located on this back of the building, so that their windows would have faced the motorway ( see also section Criticism ) . It could therefore be said much more accurately that the building itself would not have been shielded from the motorway, but that the Kulturforum would have been shielded from the western bypass with the building - which was probably also Scharoun's intention. The jury of the architectural competition at the time explicitly praised the design for how excellent the " user rooms acoustically, visually and against dust nuisance" are shielded from the motorway (emphasis added by the author).

Scharoun's formal language is already evident from the outside, in which simple rectangular shapes are rarely used, but which mostly result from a mixture of trapezoidal and polygonal rooms. This is most prominently visible on the high magazine, which, with its bevels , opposes the impression of a right-angled box both in the top view and in the silhouette .

The structure of the building into the main reading room and special use areas can also be seen from the outside in the staggered forms; the latter are kept smaller according to their function. The building leads into the Otto Braun Hall , which offers capacity for events with up to 500 guests. After Scharoun's death, the hall was designed by Edgar Wisniewski alone and is based on the same pentagonal floor plan as the Philharmonie, which is sometimes interpreted as Wisniewski's homage to Scharoun. Just like this, the hall has excellent acoustics . Under this larger another room with about 100 seats is in the basement of "hiding" the Simon Bolivar -Saal . Both halls are mainly used for events of the Ibero-American Institute. The area has a separate entrance and foyer, which can be separated from the rest of the library's entrance foyer with a retractable wall made of glass elements.

Due to the “nesting”, the horizontal fanning and the breaking up surfaces of the external structure, the building does not have a “facade” in the traditional sense - a feature that is not untypical for Scharoun's designs: From his students to his opinion on (in the final phase When addressing the facade of his Philharmonie, which was modified for cost reasons, he is said to have asked: "Does it even have one?"

The entrance area from the outside

Scharoun had a deep aversion to the gesture of superfluous representation, which is also reflected in the building of the State Library: Despite the extensive dimensions, the building does not appear due to its size. The entrance and the foyer are kept modest and consciously forego the awe-inspiring architectural language of the classic library building. Scharoun's “reluctance” in this regard went so far that the State Library originally did not have any labels at the entrance that could be seen from afar, which is why visitors often had difficulties finding the entrance. The illuminated lettering was not attached to the canopy until 2001, when the architectural competition between the new buildings on Potsdamer Platz made lettering more necessary than ever. The lettering at the entrances to the event halls (Otto-Braun-Saal, Simon-Bolivar-Saal) was also only applied on this train.

The golden "outer skin" of the magazine

The cladding of the magazine consists of gold-anodized aluminum plates, which were also planned for the Philharmonie (but were not attached until later, see section Similarities to the Berlin Philharmonic ) and with which Scharoun pursued the aim of "symbolically referring to the treasure of the library ". The surface of the plates has a pyramid structure. The facade cladding was actually not finished in its current form: The original planning stipulated that about two centimeters of translucent cladding should be attached over it, which would have resulted in soft, atmospheric structures in interaction with the golden reflective aluminum. Because the material had to meet fire protection regulations and there was no experience with GRP regarding aging behavior , a deluge system should have been installed. Because of the high costs, this “second skin” was finally painted again. How it would have looked can be seen today at the Philharmonic Hall opposite: the facade cladding that was subsequently attached was provided with polyester hoods. The chamber music hall built a few years after the facade renovation, on the other hand, does not have this detail, so that the effect can be compared very well there.

Indoor

"The basis for planning is first and foremost the consideration of the human and only secondly of the organizational", said Scharoun - for him, the human being was the focus of his architecture. The restraint of the entrance area continues in the interior: According to his partner Edgar Wisniewski, it was “a concern to avoid the historical pathos of the dome shape” and instead to create a space that “associates the freedom of a landscape”. This metaphor of the reading landscape has now established itself as well as that of the book ship (see section Outside ) .

foyer

The public for the user area is on two levels (entrance foyer and reading rooms) that are connected by two laterally located stairs, where a particularly successful step dimension is attributed to: The press wrote at the opening of "majestic stairs" ( FAZ ) , on to whom one steps “like to a state reception” ( Deutsche Zeitung ) . The east foyer acts as a mezzanine level, which is located under the magazine and, with its height of three floors (19 meters), indicates its massive size. In the middle of the east foyer there is an originally not planned breakthrough to the reading room, the so-called "Borngasse". The name comes from the former general director Ludwig Borngässer, who arranged this third flight of stairs to save detours.

Reading room

The main reading room, view from the window front

The “reading landscape” is characterized by terrace-like galleries , which are staggered one inside the other and connected to each other via open staircases , some of which are “small static masterpieces”. The workplaces and handsets are distributed across all levels. Like the exterior of the building, the interior reading room landscape is staggered towards the Kulturforum, on the ground floor of the reading room (in relation to the building: 2nd floor) the floor slopes gently towards the forum in several steps. The different heights and levels of the individual areas result in new spatial impressions, the room is divided into groups and yet remains spacious, open and transparent. “Man experiences the size of the object and at the same time experiences intimacy,” as Scharoun said.

A floor-to-ceiling window front opens the reading room to the outside, where the terrace structure continues (see section Outside ) . In the area of ​​the windows, the reading room has the "luxury" of low bookshelf heights, which also supports the feeling of open space. The light architecture ensures that daylight penetrates the hall well: the ceiling has four light pyramids , each of which forms the center for smaller atriums in the reading room. The roof has a shed roof structure, which, however, is not directly visible from the reading room; an inserted false ceiling, which is provided with 200 so-called light domes , ensures that only diffuse indirect daylight reaches the hall. The calottes , the development of which took a whole year, have a decisive impact on the appearance of the reading room, each 2.5 meters in diameter.

In front of the window front, large vertical slats were installed as sun protection due to the west orientation, which can be rotated when sunlight falls. It was originally planned that the lamellas could also be brought together in front of the facade supports, but this was not implemented for reasons of cost. Also, the intended collapsible slats were not built into the light pyramids, but a fixed sun protection construction, which means that the incidence of light is significantly less than intended in the drafts.

The designs by Scharoun, who grew up in Bremerhaven , are known for their stylistic borrowings from shipbuilding , which also has an impact on the building of the State Library: This is most evident in the numerous references to the porthole , such as round wall openings and cutouts, or the porthole windows in the so-called carrels , the cabins with individual workstations. But the elements of the “reading landscape” can also be associated with nautical aesthetics; the reading room levels have already been interpreted as “promenade decks ” with a railing , the elevated magazine as a “giant chimney”.

Administrative area

User and librarian areas are strictly separated in the building along the longitudinal axis. The two areas differ from each other not only spatially but also architecturally, which is often the target of criticism (see section Criticism ) .

Scharoun, for whom the depiction of a process was the means of finding architectural design, developed the floor plan structure from the process of a new book entry. This is how the room sequences were created on the “path of the book”: In the north is the post office, from where the book passes through the building along the accession , cataloging, specialist areas and binding point and finally reaches the magazine. The center of the wing is an open-plan office , which at 100 meters is almost as long as the central reading room (125 m). The reason for choosing this space concept, which is no longer very popular today, was Scharoun's intention to facilitate collaboration with a high volume of newcomers. A long corridor runs parallel to it, making the individual sections of the open-plan office accessible from the outside; Because of its stereotypical administrative building aesthetics, this corridor is also jokingly called "civil servant career" by the employees.

Similarities to the Berlin Philharmonic

In some details, the user area in particular shows strong similarities to the Philharmonie designed about ten years earlier. These include, for example, the banisters , the floor in the foyer, the colored glass brick walls , the philharmonic lamp (see also the section on building art ) and the golden cladding of the facade . (The Philharmonie, on the other hand, did not get its golden cladding until the 1980s: although it was originally planned by Scharoun, the walls were initially only painted ocher for cost reasons.)

architectural art

Scharoun had planned the participation of visual artists to design architectural details early on. It is therefore not a question of works of art created in isolation that were "added" to the architecture, but (as is often the case with Scharoun's buildings) as components of the building planned in conceptual collaboration with the architect.

In addition, Scharoun reserved several areas and rooms on the building, the design of which would later be determined by competitions.

Artistic design of architectural details

For the artistic design of architectural details, Scharoun relied on artists with whom he had previously worked (including on the construction of the Philharmonic):

The glass brick wall in Alexander Camaro's entrance hall
The “windows” at the south-western end of the high magazine at night
  • Alexander Camaro (1901–1992) designed the colored glass block windows in the entrance hall, reading room, east foyer and the west side of the high storey. In the entrance area and reading room, the walls consist of square glass blocks that are joined together to form colored surfaces. It is noticeable here that these areas override the division by the multiple window frames. In the foyer on the ground floor, red, orange, yellow and blue tones are used, in the reading room the colder blue tones are dropped in favor of a warmer violet tone.
    The colored glass walls in the east foyer, on the other hand, are made using a different technique: Round glass blocks were additionally covered with colored glass and embedded in concrete, the resulting already finished fields (15 pieces) were then placed in a steel frame construction. The colors here are shades of red (dark red, rose, violet, gray) and, "contrapuntal", a turquoise green.
    The windows on the high magazine have no actual "window function"; they do not let any light into the rooms, but are lit from the inside and therefore only shine outwards. The associations here can range from "precious stones" (in connection with the golden outer shell) to "neon advertising".
The interplay of the different types of stone in the floor of the foyer, designed by Erich Fritz Reuter
  • Erich Fritz Reuter (1911–1997) designed the floor in the entrance foyer . The natural stone floor consists of slate and quartzites from the polar region (Rembrandt quartzite, Otta-Phillyt, Fossum quartzite and Alta quartzite) and thus combines different black, gray and earth tones. The surfaces are criss-crossed by lines of white Carrara marble. The juxtaposition of the different color nuances of the materials, the white lines dividing the surface at acute angles and the breaking of the running directions of the rectangular panels on the lines creates a subtle play with the perception of the viewer, who often only see the special texture of the floor on the second look opens up.
Günter Ssymmank's “Philharmonic Lamp” in the stairwell
  • Günter Ssymmank (1919–2009) is the designer of the Philharmonic I lamp , which he designed in 1959 for the foyer of the Philharmonic. The two main staircases of the State Library are also equipped with a total of 62 of these lights. Each luminaire consists of 72 mushroom and support elements of different sizes as well as 180 bridge elements. The mushroom elements overlap in four levels and thus create a closed surface that ensures a diffuse light distribution. Originally the elements were made of the then newly developed polyamide , which, however, yellows over time; In 1984 the lamps were therefore dismantled. The lamps can now be made from Plexiglas and can no longer be glued, but screwed. This new version was reinstalled in 1989. The luminaires are fixed in their position and cannot be lowered to the floor, which makes maintenance quite time-consuming: a scaffold must be erected on the stairs every time to replace the light sources. The lamp is now part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art .
    Günter Ssymmank also designed the glass front of the temporary exhibition room in the foyer. The twelve glass plates, which appear the same at first glance, are, however, each unique on closer inspection: each glass surface has a different surface structure. In addition, the individual surfaces are not level with one another, but are offset from one another at changing angles like a curtain.
  • Hermann Mattern (1902–1971) was one of the responsible garden architects . Scharoun worked with him for a very long time (already at the Schminke house in 1933). After Mattern's death, Günter Nagel took over his job.

Artistic design of reserved areas

  • Erich Hauser (1930–2004) won the 1977 competition for the design of a large-format mural in the east foyer. Scharoun had only noted the note for this place in his plans: “like Schlemmer”.
  • Ansgar Nierhoff designed the sculpture composition Bastion (1980) in the garden in front of the reading room. It consists of three square steel columns with associated pits lined with granite. The three elements refer to the buildings at the Kulturforum: Neue Nationalgalerie , Philharmonie and Staatsbibliothek.
  • Hans Wimmer (1907–1992) made the bronze sculpture Horse Head (1981/82) for the Ibero-American Institute. The work originally planned for the sculpture terrace bears the inscription ILION on the right side , the ancient Greek name for the city of Troy , which in Greek mythology was conquered with the help of the Trojan horse .
  • Günther Uecker (* 1930) created the water drop sculpture in front of the stairs to the map reading room. The work of art was installed in 1981, but never worked without problems for more than about two weeks, so that after several attempts it was finally taken out of service. The artist's bad planning still attracts the ridicule of employees to this day. In the early 1990s, a self-written poem by the then head of building services could be read on a sign in front of the sculpture:

"Dear Guest; come here and see
this thing is art in construction so
far it has been repaired several times
, it has never worked,
it
makes you cry or laugh, what can you do with the thing
best you put this temple
to other unused clutter. "

Originally, the concept of the sculpture as well as its aesthetic integration into its surroundings had convinced the jury in charge. Scharoun himself had imagined a “modern Athena” for the location in the main reading room, which Edgar Wisniewski saw indirectly realized with the temple-like shape of Uecker's water drop sculpture . The artist described the concept and idea of ​​his design as follows: “The sculpture consists of two round water basins 3 meters in diameter. The water basins are one below the other. The upper water basin is supported by 6 columns. The construction is made of bronze. From the upper, still water, a drop of water drips from the center of the basin into the lower basin. The impact of the drop creates wave rings that run to the outer edge of the pool and back to the center. ”
In practice, however, algae quickly formed in the water, which after a short time clogged the tiny nozzle in the upper pool. The addition of chemicals, on the other hand, reduced the surface tension of the water too much, so that no coherent droplets could form - and thus no waves. The exposure to dust also caused a similar problem. Even with normal operation of the work of art, a weekly replacement of the water would have been necessary - an unreasonable expense for the building services.
After earlier considerations of handing the work over to the Nationalgalerie, the future of sculpture remains unclear: In 2005, the artist offered a modification of the technology in order to restore the originally intended functionality, but estimated a five-digit sum for this, so the offer was rejected has been.
  • Bernhard Heiliger (1915–1995) is the artist of the large relief Panta rhei in the entrance foyer and the sculpture Constellation .
  • Hans Elias (1907–1985) was responsible for the Prometheus sculpture in the light shaft between the north stairs and the pick-up area on the ground floor.
  • Alfred Hrdlicka (1928–2009) created the Bonhoeffer bust in the entrance area. It was unveiled in late January 2002.

Critical appreciation and charisma

With reference to a quote from Nietzsche, which speaks of walking "within yourself", the architect Holger Kleine said in 1999:

“The delightful experience of being able to walk within yourself in the State Library has been made by hundreds of thousands for twenty years. Architecture cannot achieve anything more meaningful. "

Over the years, however, the building has not only found advocates. In addition to the occasionally enthusiastic affection, the Potsdamer Strasse building has also repeatedly received substantial criticism since it opened. Renate Künast called the building "ugly for thought" , described it as an "ugly colossus that cannot be torn down again" and which seems to her "like a blockage in her head", especially due to the destruction of the course of Alte Potsdamer Strasse (which, however, was not Choice of Scharoun himself). Others can be more enthusiastic about the arrangement of Scharoun's buildings at the Kulturforum: "The architect saw the area as a pond through which cars streamed like fish and in which the buildings floated around like exquisite water lilies," wrote Niklas Maak in the FAZ .

In the field of tension between aesthetics and functionality

Apart from questions of taste and the role of the building for the Kulturforum, various criticisms of the celebrated building have emerged in the more than 30 years of operation. One of the central allegations here is that in the planning, aesthetic aspects were placed before functional ones in many places. The following examples are specifically mentioned:

The south staircase in the entrance hall, which was closed again shortly after the opening
  • South staircase: From the entrance foyer to the reading room there are two staircases, each with its own entrance control. However, only a few users have ever been able to experience the intended symmetry: The southern staircase could not be maintained for long due to the additional personnel requirements and the associated cost reasons and has since then been inoperable.
The open building structure: View from the stairway area of ​​the entrance hall upwards, where the reading rooms are visible
  • Acoustics: Due to the open architecture inside the building, the entrance hall, the east foyer and the reading rooms are not only connected visually, but also acoustically. For example, the natural stone floor in the entrance foyer is not without problems due to the high level of background noise when the book trolley is rolling. In the meantime, it has been possible to significantly reduce this noise pollution by installing glass walls between the entrance hall and atrium.
The problem also applies to the reading room, in which, for example, the information is perceived by some users as an acoustic pole of unrest.
  • Accessibility: The many steps and differences in height in the "reading landscape" represent special barriers for wheelchair users. In any case, the building is not particularly handicapped accessible - which is also due to the time it was built, to which today's public awareness and also not the building standards currently valid for Accessibility prevailed.
  • Use of the east foyer: The east foyer was deliberately designed by Scharoun as a pure "foyer", which should essentially fulfill the purpose of the passage room from the entrance area to the reading room (or the administrative offices located there) and should not accommodate any handsets or workplaces. Because of the generous dimensions of the room, this design is sometimes perceived as a waste. In the past, there have been proposals initiated by Renzo Piano to make the building accessible from Marlene-Dietrich-Platz via the east foyer or to provide it with a passage.
  • The open spatial structure: the nesting of the different levels with the different hand areas is difficult for some new users to grasp. In addition, there is the accusation that the open architecture invites too much to “go for a walk” and explore - and thus cause undesirable unrest in a library building.
  • The division into "two worlds": The building not only strictly separates the areas of librarians and users in a north-south direction, but also in terms of style: While the reading room and the user area are famous for their bright and open interior design, the areas are full for the librarians, for their part, the clichés of the administrative architecture with corridors, nooks and crannies (see also the architecture section ) . In particular, the north wing of the building has floor jumps and connections that are on the one hand unintuitive and difficult to remember, on the other hand make it unnecessarily difficult to transport books on book trolleys and make it necessary to use the elevator. The deputy general director Günter Baron remarked mockingly in 1999: "In some parts of the house it seems that the ascetic side of the library profession should find its expression in the design of the administrative areas." This impression is also underpinned by the fact that virtually all administrative offices have their windows at the back of the building, and thus originally would have looked at the motorway bypass planned at the time.
  • The open-plan office: One of the main sections of the administration is designed as an open-plan office. With this room concept, which was particularly widespread during the construction of the new State Library building, Scharoun originally intended to enable “organic collaboration” with a high volume of daily new additions. However, the concept was never really accepted by the employees, and for example partitions were used to create the lack of privacy. In addition to this aspect, the indoor climate is also one of the biggest problems in open-plan offices. Due to the subsequent division of the room, the so-called air rollers can no longer circulate through the room as planned; The employees sitting at the windows often complain about drafts, while at the workplaces further inside the room air is perceived as stuffy because of the low circulation speed. According to Wisniewski, the reason for the unfortunate design is also the fact that, after Scharoun's death, external consulting firms took over the planning and furnishing of the internal areas without his office being able to participate. Air conditioning and lighting technology was also modified. In the end result, the “advantages of the open-plan office have been turned into the opposite”.

In addition, planning that is occasionally unrelated to needs or practice is discussed. Examples:

  • The “Pharaoh's Tomb”: There is a separate foyer in the building right next to the main entrance for users to access the General Management, which also has its own porter's place. However, because of the costs involved, the State Library has never been able to afford this luxury - the room has never been in operation. In employee jargon, the general management foyer is therefore also known as the “pharaoh's tomb”.
  • For the control of the lighting and shading of the reading room there is a very prominent control panel on the third floor, which was obviously intended to be permanently occupied by one worker. In practice, however, this desk, which in user jargon is also known as the “command center” because of its design, was never occupied.

In the context of criticism, the difficult structural history of the building on both sides has to be taken into account again and again. Edgar Wisniewski complained as early as 1980 that “the office forms originally worked out together with the librarians are often used differently, so that inevitably impairments are the result. This is all the more regrettable because the conception and design of the various office forms was not a coincidental result - lying in the shadow of the reading rooms, so to speak - but was the starting point and essential concern of Scharoun can only judge contemporary witnesses who were involved in the process.

The building in the film

The building is a popular location for filming; Filming takes place here three to four times a year. In order to avoid disruptions to ongoing operations, these are usually only approved on Sundays.

  • The building of the State Library became known to a wide audience through the award-winning film Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) by Wim Wenders . Longer scenes play particularly on the second terrace level (4th floor) in the reading room.
  • The building is prominently represented in the film Agnes und seine Brüder (2004) by Oskar Roehler : One of the protagonists works as a librarian in the State Library.
  • In an image spot for the Voestalpine company (agency: Jung von Matt / Donau, Vienna), a scene takes place on the striking spiral staircase in the southern section of the large reading room.
  • Lars Kraume's film The Coming Days (2010) shows the Potsdamer Strasse building as the action location of the protagonist, who works on the second terrace level (4th floor), which already served as the place where the two main characters worked in Himmel über Berlin (see above). The action is set in the near future, between 2016 and 2020; the furnishings of the library are correspondingly “futuristic”: The individual reading areas are equipped with permanently installed glass screens.

Numbers and dates

  • Property size: 38,000 m²
  • Built-up area: 19,400 m²
  • Usable area: 78,200 m²
including reading rooms: 9,300 m²
  • Length: 229 m
  • Width: 152 m
  • Height: 58 m (−14 m to max. +44 m)
  • Floors: 10 upper floors, 2 basement floors
  • Magazine capacity: 5.4 million volumes
  • Reading places in the main hall: 675
  • Reading places special rooms: 137

House technic

The dimensions of the building require corresponding dimensions in the building services that are not immediately obvious to visitors. The maintenance of the house's lighting is a logistically complex undertaking: There are over 30,000 in and on the building and must be kept functional at all times.

Air conditioning

The house has 74 air conditioning units, which are controlled by seven central units. The air conditioning systems keep the interior of the building at 22 ° C and 50% humidity , in the magazine the target values ​​are 18 ° C and 50% humidity. The air conditioning system has three cooling machines with a total output of 4.5  MW . The heating is operated with district heating .

The fresh air supply is located on the roof of the building at the south end of the high storey. Here the air is first sucked into an anteroom and then after several filter stages ( fine dust filter class F9) it is distributed to the individual lines of the air conditioning systems, which supply the building volume of 420,000 m³ with fresh air. The sucked in air amounts to 1.5 million m³ per hour in normal operation.

The air conditioning or the room climate is one of the central points of criticism from employees and users of the State Library. However, the criticized conditions are less due to the performance of the air conditioning itself than to subjective feelings on the one hand and above all problems with the so-called "fresh air cylinder" on the other hand (see also section Criticism ).

Extinguishing system

The building's extinguishing system has more than 1000 outlets (sprinkler valves) which, if triggered, release 120 liters of water per minute in the event of a fire. For this purpose, the system is kept permanently at a pressure of 10  bar . In order to be able to provide full capacity immediately when triggered, the system has a water storage tank of 60,000 liters, which, however, only serves to start up: Without this tank, air would be sucked in from the water supply line, because when the alarm is triggered a very large amount of water (the mentioned two liters per second and sprinkler valve) is required. This "start-up shock" can be bridged with the tank.

Pneumatic tube

The building has a pneumatic tube system , which has hardly been used since the electronic ordering system was introduced. Nevertheless, it can still be used as the system has not yet been taken out of service (as of August 2011).

Elevators

Of the total of 25 elevators in the building, only four can be found in the visitor area - two each in the north and south staircases, but the latter are not open to public use due to the closure of the south staircase. The rest of the elevators are mostly freight elevators - which are particularly necessary in the northern administration wing because of the numerous nooks and crannies (see also the section on criticism ).

magazine

The magazine has a total capacity of 5.4 million volumes. The magazine's conveyor system has 72 stations and a length of around 2.5 kilometers.

Emergency power system

Two marine diesel engines with an output of 1500 kVA each are installed in the building as an emergency power generator  . The fuel supply is sufficient for 30 hours of operation.

Web links

Commons : Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Haus Potsdamer Strasse)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Stimmann : Future of the cultural forum. From the Tiergarten district to the museum of the 20th century. Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-86922-488-6 .
  2. ↑ Law on the establishment of a foundation “Prussian Cultural Heritage” (PDF; 18 kB), § 3, paragraph 2.
  3. ^ History of the Foundation ( Memento from July 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
  4. ^ Martin Hollender: The "Marburg Book Grave" - ​​Political controversies about the two Berlin State Libraries in East and West during the Cold War . In: Archives for the history of the book industry. 63, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-598-44105-9 , p. 158.
  5. ↑ Music with walls . In: Der Spiegel . No. 42 , 1963, pp. 104–108 ( online - at the opening of the Philharmonie).
  6. ↑ Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage: Reading Landscape. Hans Scharoun's State Library . Catalog for the exhibition from July 9 to September 4, 2004, Berlin 2004, p. 5.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g Golden Shrine . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1978, pp. 246–249 ( online - at the opening of the State Library).
  8. ↑ From a speech on the occasion of the awarding of the Erasmus Prize 1970, quoted in: Edgar Wisniewski: Raumvision und Struktur - thoughts on Hans Scharoun's conception for the building of the State Library . In: Ekkehart Vesper (Ed.): Ceremony for the opening of the new building in Berlin . Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1978, ISBN 3-88226-035-1 , pp. 144–158, quotation p. 158.
  9. ^ Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library . arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 19.
  10. ^ A b Hans Wurzler: Building execution and construction . In: Ekkehart Vesper (Ed.): Ceremony for the opening of the new building in Berlin . Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1978, ISBN 3-88226-035-1 , p. 164.
  11. ↑ Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage: Reading Landscape. Hans Scharoun's State Library . Catalog for the exhibition from July 9 to September 4, 2004, Berlin 2004.
  12. ↑ Holger Kleine: Contemplative Fantastics - on Hans Scharoun's State Library in the context of the present . In: Communications from the Berlin State Library (PK). NF 8 (1999), No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 23-37.
  13. ↑ Eberhard Syrting, Jörg Kirschenmann: Hans Scharoun: Outsiders of Modernity . Taschen, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-2449-8 , p. 83.
  14. ^ Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 28.
  15. ↑ As early as 1979, however, it was replaced by the ICC in these criteria .
  16. ↑ Martin Hollender: “La liberté de Berlin, c'est aussi la nôtre” - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the State Library . In: Bibliotheksmagazin , No. 3/2009, ISSN  1861-8375 , pp. 47-49.
  17. ↑ Werner Schochow: The Berlin State Library and its environment. 20 chapters of Prussian-German library history . Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 3-465-03442-2 , p. 167.
  18. ^ Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 20
  19. ↑ Amory Burchard: Reconstruction of the State Library: Libraries in a state of emergency. In: Der Tagesspiegel , August 9, 2001.
  20. ^ Building history on the website of the State Library.
  21. ^ Gmp: Berlin State Library.
  22. ↑ https://www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/pressemitteilung/article/2019/09/6/pressemeldung-architekturwettbewerb-fuer-denkmalgerechte-sanierung-der-staatsbibliothek-zu-berlin-am/
  23. ↑ Birte Paulat: Open sesame! The thoroughfare plans for the State Library on Potsdamer Platz in the mirror of the press . In: Antonius Jammers (ed.): Planen und Gestalten - Festgabe für Günter Baron . Berlin State Library, Berlin 2001, p. 271.
  24. ^ A b Gustav Falke: Readers need strong nerves and sturdy shoes: How the Berlin State Library becomes a monument to the division between East and West . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 93, April 22, 2003, p. 46.
  25. ^ Günter Baron: The Scharoun Building of the State Library - Functionality and Proof. In: Communications from the Berlin State Library (PK). NF 8 (1999), No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 1-22, p. 8.
  26. ↑ Berlin State Library: Annual Report 2006 ISSN  0340-2274 , p. 5
  27. ^ Jürgen Tietz, Florian Bolk: Staatsbibliothek Kulturforum Berlin . Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2000, p. 8. (The New Architecture Guide, No. 16)
  28. ^ A b c Edgar Wisniewski: Künast confuses cause with consequences . In: Frankfurter Rundschau. January 12, 2001, p. 8.
  29. ^ Information sheet from the executing company G + H Fassadentechnik , accessed on August 4, 2011.
  30. ↑ Martin Hollender: The opening of the State Library of Prussian Cultural Heritage in December 1978 in the echo of the press. In: Communications from the State Library (PK). NF 8 (1999), No. 1, p. 40 ff.
  31. ^ Jürgen Tietz, Florian Bolk: Staatsbibliothek Kulturforum Berlin . Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2000, p. 13 (The New Architecture Guide, No. 16).
  32. ↑ Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 136.
  33. ↑ Eberhard Syrting, Jörg Kirschenmann: Hans Scharoun: Outsiders of Modernity . Taschen, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-2449-8 .
  34. ^ Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 21.
  35. ^ Peter Pfankuch (ed.): Hans Scharoun: Buildings, drafts, texts . Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-7861-6184-4 , p. 141 (series of publications Akademie der Künste, vol. 10).
  36. ↑ Holger Kleine: Contemplative Fantastics - on Hans Scharoun's State Library in the context of the present . In: Communications from the Berlin State Library (PK). NF 8 (1999), No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 23-37, p. 27.
  37. ↑ Edgar Wisniewski: The secret of shape. In: Der Tagesspiegel , December 14, 1998.
  38. ↑ Eberhard Schulz: The books cathedral . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , No. 276 of December 12, 1978, p. 23
  39. ↑ a b Martin Hollender: The opening of the State Library of Prussian Cultural Heritage in December 1978 in the echo of the press . In: Mitteilungen der Staatsbibliothek (PK) , NF 8 (1999), No. 1, p. 42.
  40. ^ A b c Günter Baron: The Scharoun building of the state library - functionality and probation . In: Communications from the Berlin State Library (PK). NF 8 (1999), No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 1-22, p. 3.
  41. ^ Jürgen Tietz, Florian Bolk: Staatsbibliothek Kulturforum Berlin . Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2000, p. 21 (The New Architecture Guide, No. 16).
  42. ^ Peter Pfankuch (ed.): Hans Scharoun: Buildings, drafts, texts . Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-7861-6184-4 , p. 140 (series of publications Akademie der Künste, vol. 10).
  43. ^ Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 26.
  44. ↑ Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage: Reading Landscape. Hans Scharoun's State Library . Catalog for the exhibition from July 9 to September 4, 2004, Berlin 2004, p. 14.
  45. ↑ Edgar Wisniewski: Spatial Vision and Structure - Thoughts on Hans Scharoun's conception for the construction of the State Library . In: Ekkehart Vesper (Ed.): Ceremony for the opening of the new building in Berlin . Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1978, pp. 144–158, p. 144.
  46. ^ A b Edgar Wisniewski: Spatial Vision and Structure - Thoughts on Hans Scharoun's conception for the building of the State Library . In: Ekkehart Vesper (Ed.): Ceremony for the opening of the new building in Berlin . Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1978, pp. 144–158, p. 152.
  47. ↑ A breeze too much . In: Der Tagesspiegel , May 23, 2008.
  48. ↑ a b Barbara Wilk: “Art in the building” of the State Library - Part 3: The entrance hall . In: Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Mitteilungen , 20th vol. (1988), ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 76–84, p. 81.
  49. ↑ Barbara Wilk: "Art in Architecture" of the State Library - Part 3: The entrance hall . In: Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Mitteilungen , 20. Jg. (1988), ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 76–84, p. 77.
  50. ↑ Inge Ahrens: True beauty comes from within. In: Berliner Zeitung , February 17, 2007.
  51. ↑ Barbara Wilk: "Art in Architecture" of the State Library - Part 3: The entrance hall. In: Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Mitteilungen , 20. Jg. (1988), ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 76–84, p. 79.
  52. ^ A b Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 24.
  53. ↑ Barbara Wilk-Mincu: “Art in the building” of the State Library (House 2) : Volume 5, Günther Uecker: Water drop sculpture . In: Mitteilungen der Staatsbibliothek (PK) , NF 3, 1994, No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 33-47, p. 47.
  54. ↑ Barbara Wilk-Mincu: “Art in the building” of the State Library (House 2) : Volume 5, Günther Uecker: Water drop sculpture . In: Mitteilungen der Staatsbibliothek (PK) , NF 3, 1994, No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 33-47, pp. 33ff.
  55. ↑ Barbara Wilk-Mincu: “Art in the building” of the State Library (House 2) : Volume 5, Günther Uecker: Water drop sculpture . In: Communications from the State Library (PK). NF 3, 1994, No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 33-47, p. 42.
  56. ↑ Holger Kleine: Contemplative Fantastics - on Hans Scharoun's State Library in the context of the present . In: Communications from the Berlin State Library (PK). NF 8 (1999), No. 1, ISSN  0038-8866 , pp. 23-37, p. 29.
  57. ↑ Renate Künast: Riegel, ugly . In: Frankfurter Rundschau. December 29, 2000, p. 7.
  58. ↑ Niklas Maak: Away with the humpback whale . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. No. 193, August 20, 2004, p. 35.
  59. ↑ Birte Paulat: Open sesame! The thoroughfare plans for the State Library on Potsdamer Platz in the mirror of the press . In: Antonius Jammers (ed.): Planen und Gestalten - Festgabe für Günter Baron . Berlin State Library, Berlin 2001, p. 272.
  60. ^ Project description by Baumgarten Simon Architects ( Memento from September 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  61. ^ Edgar Wisniewski: Hans Scharoun's last work for Berlin . In: Liselotte Orgel-Köhne: Berlin State Library. arani-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-7605-8546-9 , p. 23.
  62. ^ Image spot from 2010 of the Voestalpine company
  63. ↑ Horizont.net , accessed on August 5, 2011.
  64. ↑ Numbers, data and facts. ( Memento from March 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on the State Library's website.