Berlin Calendar 2018: Knowledge

The s.wert calendar 2018 shows buildings in which knowledge is taught, shared, shown or stored. From the empty "House of Statistics" to the new building of the BND headquarters.

The Berlin State Library – also affectionately known as “Stabi” – can be seen on the title page. The "Bücherschiff" in Potsdamer Strasse was designed by Hans Scharoun and is part of the Kulturforum.

The year begins with the message STOP WARS - this graffiti has been adorning the empty "House of Statistics" on Otto Braun Strasse in Berlin Mitte for about a year. The prefab building from 1970 was used by the Central Statistical Administration of the GDR and departments of the Stasi. After reunification, the Berlin branch of the Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Commissioner for Stasi Records moved into the building.

The building complex has been empty for several years. Since 2015, the "Initiative Haus der Statistics" has been committed to developing the area as a center for refugees - social affairs - art - creative people. With success, because in the spring of 2017 the results of the capital city agreement between Berlin and the federal government were announced. It states the intention that Berlin will buy the “House of Statistics” and develop it as a “place for administration, culture, education, social affairs and housing”.

A futuristic industrial building with an unwieldy name can be seen in February: the circulation canal of the Institute for Water and Shipping Technology . The institute is part of the TU Berlin, huge amounts of water circulate inside the building, so that models of ships, but also objects in their original size, can be exposed to currents. The world's largest circulation tank is hidden in the Tiergarten and was built in 1976 according to plans by Ludwig Leo. The building is a listed building and was renovated in 2017, which is why part of the building is covered with construction plans on the graphic. Some call the structure "Pink Elephant".

The building on the March calendar page also has an animal nickname. The Ludwig-Ehrhard-Haus on Fasanenstraße in Berlin Charlottenburg is called the armadillo. It is said that architect Nicholas Grimshaw was inspired by an armadillo when he designed it. Since its completion in 1998, the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Berlin Stock Exchange have been accommodated in the striking building with the spacy elevators.

The Bauhaus Archive, Museum of Design is located on the Landwehr Canal. The building was designed by Walter Gropius, the founder and first director of the Bauhaus. Originally the building was designed for Darmstadt, but in 1979 the plans were modified and the museum was built in Berlin next to Mies van der Rohe's New National Gallery. The architects Alex Cvijanovic and Hans Bandel were responsible for the replanning. The Bauhaus Archive collects works, documents and literature related to the Bauhaus and makes them accessible to the public.

Berlin and starry sky - a dreamlike combination for July. The Zeiss Planetarium on Prenzlauer Allee was opened in 1987 after only two years of construction. The architect was Erhardt Gißke. In 2015, what was once the largest and most modern star theater was renovated to become the “technically most modern star theater in Europe” again. For a few weeks, the dome became a giant burger - a fast-food delivery service advertised its services. Fortunately, these times are over and you can look at the stars again without flesh.

The Berlin calendar from s.wert is always an invitation to discover the city. The back of the BND headquarters on Chausseestrasse can be seen in August. We recommend an inner-city bike tour along the green corridor on the Panke , from there you can see the back of the huge building and the "art in construction" palm trees.

In September, a view of the main building of the TU architecture faculty , built in 1968, can be seen. It was designed by the Hamburg architect Bernhard Hermkes. The sculptural, triangular bay windows provide optimal south-west light inside the building. The low-rise building was designed by Hans Scharoun and the building of the mathematics faculty can be seen in the background. The bronze sculpture "Flame" was designed by Bernhard Heiliger in 1963 to commemorate Ernst Reuter.

The largest Jewish museum in Europe is located in the Jewish Museum Berlin , whose zigzag-shaped new building designed by Daniel Libeskind opened in 1999. The graphic shows part of the striking titanium-zinc facade and the "Garden of Exile".

In 2017, a building with a funky facade was built directly on the banks of the Spree in Berlin, between the Reichstag and the main train station. It was planned by the Berlin architects Richter and Musikowski . The Futurium is located in the new building. And in fact, questions should be clarified there as to how we will and want to live in the future. This is how the Futurium gGmbH describes itself on its website: “The Futurium is an initiative of the Federal Government together with leading German scientific organizations, foundations and the German economy. It is an independent platform for dialogue and networking between the state, science, business and society.”

The year ends with a graphic of the massive, brutalist Benjamin Franklin University Hospital, now renamed the Benjamin Franklin Campus. The imposing concrete giant was realized in 1968 by the architects Curtis & Davis and Franz Mocken.