The Once and Future Pariser Platz: A Square in Berlin Comes Back

Since the fall of the wall Berlin has been trying to come back as the metropolis it once was. An important part of this was the re-building of the center of the city, where the wall once stood. Within a few years this center was rebuilt, accompanied by an extensive public debate about the quality of the new architecture and the merits of the city planning for the area. To retrieve the ambiance of the metropolitan Berlin of the past would not be possible, but there is evidence that a new Berlin has emerged, with many worthwhile qualities that are unique to the city. Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg gate is one of the historic squares that has re-emerged. An imposing assembly of internationally acclaimed architects found new solutions for the ten buildings that once defined the site, among them the American embassy. The re-emerging square symbolizes the reunification of the city; the years of the wall formally ended in Pariser Platz in 1989 with the opening of the Brandenburg Gate.