28 June to 3 October 2012

From 28 June until German Reunification Day on 3 October 2012, the Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Building in the parliamentary district in Berlin is being transformed every evening into a giant film screen. Starting at dusk, a film, light and sound production will be projected onto the facade of the Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Building on the banks of the Spree.

This thirty-minute  installation is entitled "Dem deutschen Volke – Eine parlamentarische Spurensuche. Vom Reichstag zum Bundestag" (To the German People – A journey through parliamentary history from the Reichstag to the Bundestag). It shows the history of parliamentarianism in Germany and of the Reichstag Building in Berlin.

The Reichstag Building is the star of the film

Looking across the River Spree from Friedrich-Ebert-Platz or the riverbank next to the Reichstag Building, members of the public are able to relive important milestones and emotional events in German parliamentary history. The film begins during the imperial period at the end of the nineteenth century, takes in the development of parliamentarianism during the Weimar era, includes Germany's darkest hours after the assumption of power by the National Socialists and examines the decades when Germany was divided, along with reunification and the process of overcoming the division right up to the present day.

The film also shows the construction, destruction, repair, wrapping, and reconstruction of the Reichstag Building and its final reincarnation in 1999 as the seat of the parliament of reunified Germany.

A whole building is transformed into a screen.

And, beyond the screen, the installation uses the whole of the Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Building. The images are projected onto a total of eight areas of the building. The largest of these covers an area of 400 square metres, whilst the smallest covers only 21 square metres. Additionally, further laser images are projected onto various sections of the building. These floodlights create a majestic aura and swathe the architecture of the Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Building in a distinctive light.

Each showing lasts around 30 minutes. Two back-to-back screenings take place every evening during the summer. The spectators' area is on Friedrich-Ebert-Platz on the southern bank of the Spree. Spectators can watch the film free of charge.