Insight into state buildings: Open the doors for taxpayers!

It is therefore a shame that Gerhard Graupner’s colored surface paintings in the large hall, which have become an iconic part of the German state representation, have already been taken down in preparation for the move to the new presidential office. That would have been a wonderful selfie background.

It’s also a shame that most of this country’s citizens won’t be able to experience such an aura before the new, colorful office building that has been built opposite the Chancellery goes into operation. Until the Bellevue renovation is completed, it will serve as the official residence of the Federal President, and will probably soon be a female Federal President. Unfortunately, so far there are no open days planned there, not even for the access zones, the inner courtyard and the representation rooms on the top floor.

The aesthetics of restraint

These rooms, like those in Bellevue Palace, are also a good lesson in democratic methodology: They refute all populist claims that “the politicians” are out of touch, wasting tax money, living in luxury while “the people” are starving. You can read it in the AfD, the BSW, in Russian or Trump-American propaganda and in the media that follows them. But many villas or boardrooms display more splendor than the Federal President.

One can certainly argue whether the office could use more decorations, perhaps even needs it, to show that democracy is not a poor makeshift until “strong” men take power again. On the other hand, since the times of Adenauer and the first Federal President Theodor Heuss – one of the great fighters for the design reforms of the 20th century – aesthetic restraint has been a sign of Federal German state representation. See the interior of the Chancellery, the Bundestag buildings, administrations, state parliament buildings, museums, libraries, universities, schools. They show again and again: Exciting spatial sequences, careful detailing and the skilful use of materials characterize them – and you can usually show these buildings quite confidently. But in order to debate that, you should also be able to see them.

So here’s the appeal of the day: Every German public building, from kindergartens to the Federal President’s office, should invite people to open days before opening. We paid for them, so we want to see what we got for our money.