Anna M. Dempsey (Dartmouth) p.81-102
2005 Issue 2
Special Issue: Cultural Transformation in Eastern Germany after 1990.
In conjunction with the Association for Modern German Studies (ags.ac.uk)
Abstract
This essay is a critical history and analysis of the architectural reconstruction of Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz. My primary purpose is to ascertain if the site functions as an authentic public place. Though many factors contribute to this process, I concentrate on how well the architecture integrates aesthetics with cultural traditions and urban spatial planning. To determine what type of place Potsdamer Platz has become, I contrast it with renovated sites in East Berlin’s Scheunenviertel (Old Jewish Quarter). Borrowing from Walter Benjamin’s philosophy of experience, I argue that the authenticity of these public places depends on how well these sites preserve and present multiple pasts that can be useful and transformative for the diverse populations of the present.