Editing Potsdamer Platz (section)

== Europe's largest building site ==
After 1990, the square became the focus of attention again, as a large (some 60 hectares), attractive location which had suddenly become available in the centre of a major European city. A lot of more than {{convert|720000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}<ref>[[Alan Riding]] (11 April 1999), [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/11/arts/new-berlin-building-rubble-history-capital-reinstated-remodeled.html Building on the Rubble of History; A Capital Reinstated And Remodeled] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> at Potsdamer Platz had been acquired by Daimler-Benz in 1987 as an expression of faith in Berlin; in 1990, adjacent plots were bought by [[Sony]] and [[ABB]].<ref>[[Alan Riding]] (11 April 1999), [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/11/arts/new-berlin-building-rubble-history-capital-reinstated-remodeled.html Building on the Rubble of History; A Capital Reinstated And Remodeled]&nbsp;''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> The area was widely seen as one of the hottest, most exciting building sites in Europe, and the subject of much debate amongst architects and planners. If Berlin needed to re-establish itself on the world stage, then Potsdamer Platz was one of the key areas where the city had an opportunity to express itself. More than just a building site, Potsdamer Platz was a ''statement of intent''. In particular, due to its location straddling the erstwhile border between east and west, it was widely perceived as a "linking element," reconnecting the two-halves of the city in a way that was symbolic as well as physical, helping to heal the historical wounds by providing an exciting new mecca attracting Berliners from both sides of the former divide. Whether fairly or unfairly, a great deal was riding on the project, and expectations were high.

The [[Berlin Senate]] (city government) organised a design competition for the redevelopment of Potsdamer Platz and much of the surrounding area. Eventually attracting 17 entrants, a winning design was announced in October 1991, that from the [[Munich]]-based architectural firm of [[Hilmer & Sattler]]. They had to fight off some stiff competition though, including a last-minute entry by British architect [[Richard Rogers]].

The Berlin Senate then chose to divide the area into four parts, each to be sold to a commercial investor, who then planned new construction according to Hilmer & Sattler's masterplan. During the building phase Potsdamer Platz was the largest building site in Europe. While the resulting development is impressive in its scale and confidence, the quality of its architecture has been praised and criticised in almost equal measure.

=== Daimler ===
[[File:Berlin - Potsdamer Platz (3).jpg|thumb|Potsdamer Platz by day]]
[[File:Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, 160606, ako (3).jpg|thumb|Potsdamer Platz at night]]
[[File:Siegessaeule Aussicht 10-13 img3 Potsdamer Platz.jpg|thumb|Potsdamer Platz from distance]]
[[File:View from the Sonycentre, Berlin, Germany (6024402975).jpg|thumb|Left Beisheim Center, right Delbrück-Hochhaus now P5]]
[[File:Zwischenhof.Mall.of.Berlin.jpg|thumb|[[Mall of Berlin]] at [[Leipziger Platz]]]]
[[File:SonyCenterAtNight.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Sony Center]], 2004]]
The largest of the four parts went to [[Daimler-Benz]], who charged Italian architect [[Renzo Piano]] with creating an overall design for their scheme while sticking to the underlying requirements of Hilmer & Sattler's masterplan. A $2 billion development<ref>Ferdinand Protzman (8 February 1994), [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/08/business/building-cranes-rule-the-congested-sky-of-berlin.html Building Cranes Rule the Congested Sky of Berlin] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> bordering the west side of the former [[Berlin Potsdamer Bahnhof|Potsdamer Bahnhof]] site, some of its 19 individual buildings were then erected by other architects, who submitted their own designs while maintaining Piano's key elements. The primary materials used for the buildings' facades are brick, terra cotta and sandstone, creating hues of beige, soft brown and ocher.<ref name="Companies Join Huge Berlin Project">Ferdinand Protzman (28 November 1994), [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/28/business/companies-join-huge-berlin-project.html Companies Join Huge Berlin Project] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref>

The first spade at the start of the Daimler-Benz development was turned by the [[Mayor of Berlin]], [[Eberhard Diepgen]], on 11 October 1993. During construction, the contractors erected a bright red three-story building called the ''Info Box'', where computer graphics help convey the scope of one of the most complex building projects ever attempted; it quickly became a highly popular attraction with thousands of visitors each week.<ref>Stephen Kinzer (12 May 1996), [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/12/travel/watching-berlin-take-shape.html Watching Berlin Take Shape] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref>

The finished complex was officially opened by the [[Federal President of Germany]], [[Roman Herzog]], on 2 October 1998, in a glittering ceremony featuring large-scale celebrations and musical performances. The 19 buildings<ref name="Companies Join Huge Berlin Project"/> include the offices of Daimler-Benz themselves (through their former subsidiary ''debis'', whose 21-storey main tower rises to 106 metres and is the tallest building in the new Potsdamer Platz development), also offices of British [[professional services]] company [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]]; ''Berliner Volksbank'' (Germany's largest [[cooperative bank]]) by [[Arata Isozaki]]; a five-star hotel designed by [[Rafael Moneo]] and managed by [[Hyatt]], with 342 rooms and suites;<ref name="Companies Join Huge Berlin Project"/> and the 25-storey, 103-metre-high Potsdamer Platz No. 1, known as the ''Kollhoff Tower'' by architect [[Hans Kollhoff]].

Potsdamer Platz No. 1 also houses the "Panoramapunkt" viewing platform, located 100 m above ground level, which is accessed by riding Europe's fastest elevator (8.65 metres per second). From the Panoramapunkt one can see such landmarks as the [[Brandenburg Gate]], [[Reichstag building|Reichstag]], Federal Chancellery, [[Schloss Bellevue|Bellevue Palace]], Cathedral, Television Tower, [[Gendarmenmarkt|Gendarmes Market]], [[Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe|Holocaust Memorial]] and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sights – Panorama Point Berlin |url=https://panoramapunkt.de/en/sights/ |website=panoramapunkt.de |publisher=PANORAMAPUNKT Berlin |access-date=2 September 2024}}</ref> The Kollhoff Tower's facade needed major repairs due to water penetration and frost damage just seven years after completion, and was under scaffolding for many months.

The Daimler complex also contains the former [[Weinhaus Huth]], now restored to its former glory and occupied by a restaurant, café, and an exhibition space for Daimler AG's art collection ("Daimler Contemporary"). Across the complex, various artworks from the collection are installed, including pieces by [[Keith Haring]] (''[[The Boxers (sculpture)|Untitled (The Boxers)]]''), [[Mark di Suvero]] (''Galileo''), [[Robert Rauschenberg]] (''The Riding Bikes'') and [[Frank Stella]] (''Prinz Friedrich Arthur von Homburg''). From 2000 until 2010, ''Balloon Flower (Blue)'' (1995–2000) by [[Jeff Koons]] was located at Marlene Dietrich Platz.

=== Sony ===
The second largest part went to [[Sony]], who erected their new European headquarters on a triangular site immediately to the north of Daimler-Benz and separated from it by the re-routed Potsdamer Straße. This new [[Sony Center|Sony Centre]], designed by [[Helmut Jahn]], is an eye-catching monolith of glass and steel featuring an enormous tent-like conical roof, its shape reportedly inspired by [[Mount Fuji]] in Japan, covering an elliptical central public space up to 102 metres across, and thus differing substantially from Hilmer & Sattler's original plan for the site. Its 26-storey, 103-metre-high "Bahn Tower" is so named because it houses the corporate headquarters of [[Deutsche Bahn]], the German state railway system.

Surviving parts of the former [[Hotel Esplanade Berlin|Hotel Esplanade]] have been incorporated into the north side of the Sony development, including the [[Kaisersaal]] which, in a complex and costly operation in March 1996, was moved in one piece (all 1,300 tonnes of it), some 75 metres from its former location, to the spot that it occupies today (it even had to make two right-angled turns during the journey, while maintaining its own orientation). Nearby is a new [[Café Josty]], opened early in 2001, while between the two is "Josty's Bar," which is housed in the Esplanade's former breakfast room. This, like the Kaisersaal, had to be relocated, but here the room was dismantled into some 500 pieces to be reassembled where it stands now.

Topped out on 2 September 1998, the Sony Centre was formally opened on 14 June 2000 (although many of its public attractions had been up and running since 20 January), in another grand ceremony with more music&nbsp;– this time with Sony's Japanese chairman [[Norio Ohga]] himself conducting the [[Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra]]. A keen lover of classical music, he had helped to choose the site because of its close proximity to the orchestra's home in the [[Kulturforum|Cultural Forum]].

=== Beisheim ===
The third part became the [[Beisheim Center]] and adjoining buildings, on another triangular site bordered on the east side by Ebertstraße, financed entirely out of his own pocket by the German businessman [[Otto Beisheim]]. The office and shopping complex also houses the five-star [[Ritz Carlton]] and [[Marriott Hotels & Resorts|Marriott]] hotels.<ref>Matthias Inverardi (18 February 2013), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-metro-beisheim-idUSBRE91H0GL20130218 Billionaire Metro co-founder Beisheim commits suicide] [[Reuters]].</ref>

=== Park Kolonnaden ===
The fourth part is the [[Park Kolonnaden]], a range of buildings running down the east side of the Potsdamer Bahnhof site, parallelling Daimler-Benz. This complex occupies the site of the former Haus Vaterland, and its principal building, which for a few years was the headquarters of the large German trade union [[ver.di]] (''Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft'', meaning United Services Union), rises to 45 metres and has a curving glass facade designed to evoke the shape of that erstwhile landmark.

=== Leipziger Platz ===
{{main|Leipziger Platz}}
Other developments, more piecemeal in nature, have recreated the octagonal layout of neighbouring Leipziger Platz immediately to the east. One of these is ''Kanada Haus'', the new embassy of Canada, on the platz's north-west diagonal. Its [[turf-cutting ceremony]] was carried out on 18 February 2002 by the Canadian Prime Minister, [[Jean Chrétien]], and it was officially opened on 29 April 2005.

=== Controversy ===
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The whole project was subject to much controversy from the start; not everyone approved of how the district was commercialised and replanned.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} The decision by the Berlin Senate to divide the land between just four investors – while numerous others had submitted bids – provoked scepticism. The remarkably low price Daimler-Benz paid to secure their plot prompted questions from the Berlin [[Auditor]]-General's office and the [[European Union]] in Brussels, which resulted in Daimler-Benz being billed an additional sum. There were wrangles over land-usage: although a central feature of the Daimler-Benz development is a top shopping mall – the ''Arkaden'' (Arcades), this did not form part of the plans until the Berlin Senate belatedly insisted that a shopping mall be included. Despite its undoubted success, this in turn led to what many saw as an "Americanisation" of the area, with even its private security force being kitted out in something resembling [[New York City Police Department|New York Police]] uniforms.{{cn|date=September 2022}}

Further wrangles effectively brought work on the north side of Leipziger Platz to a complete stop for several years; even now{{when|date=September 2022}} there are some "fake facades" where completed new buildings should be, while a long-running dispute over who owned the Wertheim department store site (or had claims to the revenue from its sale by the government), left another large gap in the central Berlin cityscape that is only now{{when|date=September 2022}} finally being redeveloped. This development, known as [[Leipziger Platz 12]], is a large complex with facades in three streets (Leipziger Strasse, Wilhelmstrasse and Vossstrasse) as well as Leipziger Platz itself, and when completed will contain 270 stores, 270 apartments, a hotel, a fitness centre and offices. However, this development brought about the demise (after several stays of execution), of the legendary [[Tresor (club)|Tresor nightclub]] and centre for [[techno music]]. Founded on 8 March 1991 in the basement strongrooms of the former Wertheim store's bank, these having survived the decades largely undamaged, the club finally closed on 16 April 2005 (it reopened on 24 May 2007 in a renovated power plant on Köpenicker Straße).{{cn|date=September 2022}}