The 2015 Reichstag adornment commission
10th Winter Academy / Theater an der Parkaue Berlin
With children aged from 10 to 13
During the 10th Winter Academy (“Let’s say we are right”) at the Parkaue Theater in Berlin, we undertake some corrections on the Reichstag. We put the inscription “DEM DEUTSCHEN VOLKE (To the German people)” to discussion and ask: To whom or what should the temple of our representative democracy be dedicated? In 2015, what inscription should adorn the building so that people feel more involved?
In 1894, the Reichstag was inaugurated without an inscription. The public made many suggestions. But these were rejected and the panel stood empty for 22 years. In 1915, a year after World War One had begun, there was an announcement that a decision had been made. The inscription appeared in 1916. A hundred years later, we relaunch the search for an inscription. To whom or what should the Reichstag be dedicated? What do we want to see written there?
Designs made with home-made letters are brought to the Reichstag in reenactments and captured on video camera. The audience rehearses voting procedures and makes a live decision about the winning inscription.
Lab director: Verena Ries and Janne Schäfer
