The Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, Wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
April 5, 2018 1:33pm CST
During the war the building was badly damaged, the cupola destroyed. When Bonn became the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Reichstag lost its significance. It was restored only provisionally and used for different functions.
Up to the 1970s it was only a bombastic building without any allure for tourists. The area near it was a wasteland. The Wall ran around the back of the building thus making it the last stop before the East so-to-speak.
Since 1971 the Bulgarian artist Christo and his French wife Jeanne-Claude had planned to wrap the Reichstag. Only in 1994 permission was given after heated discussions in Parliament. Wrapping began on 17th June, 1995 and was finished on 24th June. More than 100,000 square meters of fireproof polypropylene fabric, covered by an aluminium layer, and 15 km of rope were needed. The spectacle was seen by five million visitors, yours truly among them. I‘ve been to many arty events in my life. The Wrapped Reichstag was one of, maybe *the* highlight (my life isn‘t over yet!). I saw the silvery monument in sunshine, when the sky was overcast and at night. I can‘t say when it was most impressive.
Why do Christo and Jeanne Claude wrap buildings, landscapes, artefacts, what is the deeper meaning behind all this? They have repeatedly stated that they do it to make the world a ‘more beautiful place‘. No deeper meaning is intended. They make the world see well-known things in a different way. Their motto is “revelation through concealing“.
When the Reichstag was unwrapped, it looked naked and ugly! But then reconstruction began under the British architect Sir Norman Foster who had won the competition. Interestingly, Forster hadn’t planned to build a new cupola on the roof, he wanted to put a flat plate on it, twice the size of the base, held up by gigantic columns. When the Berliners heard about that, they nicknamed the project ’Federal Filling Station’. (I guess he won the comp because he presented the best plans for the renovation of the inside). It needed a lot of pushing and wooing to make Foster design a new cupola. He must be happy now as it has become the No 1 tourist site in Berlin.
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More photos here:
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22 people like this
18 responses
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
5 Apr 18
It looks pretty neat wrapped like that. I wonder if the building itself was hotter or cooler with the covering on. If the aluminum was reflecting heat, it could have been cooler.
*wraps my house to find out*
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
5 Apr 18
@MALUSE I figured as much, since you wouldn't want people disturbing the wrapping.
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
5 Apr 18
@OneOfMany That wasn't the reason. The wrapping took place before the Reichstag was rebuilt/renovated and got back its former function as the seat of the government. Before that, it was still a ruin from the war.
3 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
5 Apr 18
Here in Southern California some years back, Christo did "The Umbrellas" which were 100s of yellow umbrellas in farmland north of LA.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
5 Apr 18
@MALUSE I did not see the umbrellas being put up but saw the final result.
@suripunj (956)
• New Delhi, India
5 Apr 18
@sabtraversa yes, but i think doing this he has made fun of love of we poor.
1 person likes this
@sabtraversa (12934)
• Italy
5 Apr 18
@suripunj I didn't know it was build to commemorate someone's wife, how romantic! 
@sabtraversa (12934)
• Italy
5 Apr 18
I went to search for the Reichstag and its cupola, much better the way it is now. 
Wrapping gifts is some sort of art, I guess wrapping whole buildings is about the same. 
That was interesting though, thanks for sharing.
Wrapping gifts is some sort of art, I guess wrapping whole buildings is about the same.
That was interesting though, thanks for sharing. 1 person likes this
@sabtraversa (12934)
• Italy
5 Apr 18
@MALUSE Right, those are two totally different things.
In the photo, it almost looks like it was photoshopped. Impressive, definitely.
The one you chose gives a clue on how big it is. 
@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
8 Apr 18
OMG!! I got emotional after reading your post and looking at those photos of wrapped buildings 
.. "revelation through concealing got me"...
.. "revelation through concealing got me"...@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
9 Apr 18
@MALUSE You passionately write about your subjects .. you have the gift ...
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
6 Apr 18
I had a look online on the "new" Reichstag and it looks majestic, beautiful. This was interesting to attract tourists, not a sort of art I really like. I remember the Christo's "floating pier" on the Lake of Iseo in Italy. It costed 3 million Euros, not paid by Christo, but by the Italian tax payers. Christo is now accused of wasting public money. The anchors that kept the pier in place have also damaged the bottom of the lake.
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
6 Apr 18
@MALUSE I am sorry, but this information is correct, you can search for this online, news are mainly in Italian, but this is in English.
An Italian consumer group has accused artist Christo of wasting public money on the costs of managing his floating installation on Italy's Lake Iseo
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
6 Apr 18
@LadyDuck I've already read the text. I found this article, too. It says that he was 'accused' and that the group 'claims'. Christo has always been accused of spending public money. But the article doesn't mention that he was condemned. He's never had to pay a fine or lost a trial.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
6 Apr 18
This information cannot be correct. Christo and his wife have always paid for their projects themselves. To claim that they use taxpayers' money is slander.
"Who pays for the installations?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude pay the entire cost of the artworks themselves. They earn all of the money through the sale of Christo's preparatory studies and early works from the 50's and 60's. They do not accept grants or sponsorships of any kind. They do not accept donated labor (volunteer help). They do not accept money for things like posters, postcards, books, films, T-shirts and mugs or any other products at all. None.
Art collectors who are interested in acquiring original preparatory works of art may contact webmaster Jok Church by e-mail. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have always acted as their own art dealers and Christo continues to present original preparatory work to collectors in his studio, by appointment. All of the money for projects come from these art sales.
1 person likes this
@Freelanzer (10745)
• Canada
6 Apr 18
All this talk about cupola reminds me of an article I was writing on the subject years ago. I should look for it. What a job that wrapping must be but I see their vision.
@Freelanzer (10745)
• Canada
6 Apr 18
@MALUSE I wrote it when I was at Helium. They used to get requests for content from third parties who would pay for them and this was one of them.
@Freelanzer (10745)
• Canada
6 Apr 18
@MALUSE I made good deal of money on that site in the early days because they had all these contests that I always took part in and they paid between $30 and $100. in addition to the normal earnings, but you had to write a lot and the more you wrote the greater your chance. They also had partners who would ask for specific topics that they would pay for or they would buy non-exclusive rights to published article for about 5.00. It was great income while it lasted but then they stopped the contests, became unbearable and annoyed so many people that they had to shut down. Just a few months before they shut down I finally got the distinction of being a featured writer and I had not even been on the site for months.
@Telynor (1763)
• United States
6 Apr 18
I rather liked Christo's installation in Central Park, it actually worked quite well.
@nela13 (55698)
• Portugal
5 Apr 18
I need to look at your picture twice as it doesn't look real at first sight.
@YrNemo (20261)
•
6 Apr 18
Very impressive (the trouble they had gone to), but I am glad that it was only for 2 weeks. 
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
5 Apr 18
A lot of history there!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the building in Berlin, Germany. For other uses, see Reichstag (disambiguation). Reichstag The dedication Dem deutschen Volke, meaning To the German people, can be seen
