Kulturpalast

Kulturpalast (1985)

The Kulturpalast was planned as a Socialist Classicist ensemble building. The intention was to erect a high-rise building in the style of the Seven Sisters in Moscow. In 1950, the GDR published The Sixteen Principles of Urban Design, whose important principles included a central square, cityscape-forming high-rise buildings, and wide main roads; the Kulturpalast was intended to fulfill the "dominant high ground" function.[2] This version of the project was never built.

The Kulturpalast was re-designed in the 1960s as the cultural center of the city and district of Dresden. The new design was a two-story cubic building based on plans by Leopold Wiel.[2] There were plans to build a third floor and a grandstand for parades on Ernst-Thälmann-Straße, but this was never done.

Due to improper reconstruction work in the 1990s, it became necessary to renovate the Kulturpalast's fire protection equipment, leading to a five-month closure in the summer of 2007. In the weeks before the renovation fire engines were stationed next to the building during events.

The building closed for extensive renovations in July 2012.[3] Exterior construction work began in October 2013.[4] The new concert hall, designed by Gerkan, Marg and Partners, reopened in April 2017.[5]

Entrance door after reconstruction

There is a 30-by-10.5-metre (98 ft × 34 ft) mural on the west side of the building, designed by Gerhard Bondzin and created in 1969 by a working group from the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. The mural, titled Der Weg der roten Fahne (The Way of the Red Flag), is made of concrete slabs electrostatically coated with colored glass.[6][7] On the first floor is a 45-by-1.9-metre (148 ft × 6 ft) frieze by Heinz Drache and Walter Rehn titled Unser sozialistisches Leben (Our Socialist Life).[8]

The five main entrance doors were designed by Gerd Jaeger in 1969 and represent Dresden's development from a fishing village to a large city. The doors were cast in bronze by Pirner & Franz in Dresden.

When the building first opened it had three water features on the Wilsdruffer Straße side, consisting of terrazzo pools with large fountains in each basin and smaller fountains around the edges.[9] The fountains were removed in the course of construction work for an underground car park at Altmarkt.

The inclusion of an organ in state concert hall was not a certainty in the 1960s, as organ music was associated with churches. However, one was installed in 1970 shortly after the building opened. The original organ, built by Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden, was based on a mobile frame so it could be moved on and off the stage. This mobility limited its size; the organ measured 7.4 by 7.4 by 1.5 metres (24 ft × 24 ft × 5 ft) and had 24 stops over two manuals and pedals.[10] When the Kulturpalast was renovated in 2012, the organ was dismantled and re-installed in St. Mary, Queen of Peace, Church in Cottbus.[10]

A new organ was installed in September 2017.[11] Built by Hermann Eule Orgelbau Bautzen, the new organ is larger than the original: it has 67 stops over four manuals and pedal, and measures 14.7 by 3.3 by 8.5 metres (48 ft × 11 ft × 28 ft).