Berlin has started building a castle, there are concerns about financing

Berlin - With a symbolic laying of the foundation stone, German President Joachim Gauck today inaugurated the construction of a replica of the former Berlin imperial palace. The project, designed by Italian architect Franco Stella, is intended to serve cultural and educational purposes in the future and aims to become another tourist attraction of the German capital. However, its critics fear it may turn into another "black hole for money," similar to the problematic construction of the new Berlin airport.
    The so-called Humboldt Forum is being created at the same site near Alexanderplatz in the city center, where the city residence of the Hohenzollern royal family stood until 1950. After being severely damaged during World War II, it was demolished by the communist regime of the German Democratic Republic, which built a building known as the Palace of the Republic in its place. That too has already disappeared from the center, and by 2019, a nearly exact replica of the former palace is set to rise in its stead.
    Stella's project envisions that three external sides will be a detailed replica of the baroque imperial residence, while the fourth façade will be modern. The interior spaces will be adapted to contemporary exhibition and educational needs. It is set to host, among other things, exhibitions of non-European art.
    "I wish for the Humboldt Forum in the restored Berlin City Palace to be a place of active cultural encounters from around the world," Gauck declared while laying the giant foundation stone. Beforehand, today's newspapers, construction plans, and other mementos of the day's celebration were placed inside.
    A group of Berliners has been fighting for the restoration of the palace since the early 1990s, and in 2002 it was approved by the Bundestag. However, the largest cultural project in contemporary Germany has faced significant criticism in the debt-ridden capital, mainly due to its high costs. Due to limited state support, the construction has also fallen behind schedule compared to the original plan.
    According to the current budget, the building is expected to cost 590 million euros (15 billion CZK). Most of this will be covered by the German state, with Berlin contributing 32 million euros and the Berlin Palace Foundation committing to raise 80 million euros. According to its chairman, Manfred Rettig, it has so far raised 20 million euros from donors.
    "It will be a matter of the heart for all Germans," Rettig believes that not just Berliners will accept the controversial project. However, a survey for today's issue of Stern magazine shows that only 30 percent of Germans support it, and nearly two-thirds are against rebuilding the palace. Some Germans criticize the plan for its nearly faithful replication of the original building from the outside, which they believe conveys nothing about the present time.
    Additionally, Antje Kapek, head of the Berlin Greens' parliamentary group, warned of the threat of rising costs. "The palace must not become another construction disaster," she stated, referring to the still unfinished new giant metropolitan airport, which has already postponed its opening date four times.
    Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit today urged the government to provide any necessary missing funds from the state budget. "We can't just say: let’s leave the façade only half finished," he stated. The Berliner Zeitung today described the restoration of the City Palace as the largest construction experiment in the German capital since the fall of the Berlin Wall.