The Berlin Federal Ribbon straddles the river Spree in a dramatic, continuous, strip design, called the Band des Bundes. Created to house government buildings. Seen from above, all the buildings align in an east-west, straight line, the only break between them is the curving river Spree. The east – west idea also symbolically re-unified East and West Germany.

Architects of the Berlin Federal Ribbon

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 it was decided in 1991 to move Germany’s government from Bonn back to Berlin returning to the Reichstag. Apart from the Reichstag and the Swiss embassy every other government building was reduced to rubble. Meaning most of the new government buildings had to be created from scratch. Before construction began in 1995, 835 architects entered the competition to design them. The Federal Ribbon concept was won by Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank. The Paul-Löbe-Haus and Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus were designed by Stefan Braunfels.

Architectural Photography

In the photographs the Paul-Löbe-Haus appears on the left hand side of the bridge, The Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus is on the right hand side of the bridge. The shot from beneath the roof of the Paul-Löbe-Haus shows how much the details curve to accurately follow the flow of the river.

Creating Vistas

Walking along the riverbank opens up vistas to existing buildings. The Berliner Fernsehturm tower can be seen in the distance, build back in the days of Soviet East Berlin in 1969.

Across The Bridges

The modern bridge in the distance on the left of the shots is the Crown Prince Bridge Kronprinzenbrücke designed by architect, Santiago Calatrava. See more buildings by Santiago Calatrava in Liege and Valencia. Berlin’s main station, Hauptbahnhof is close-by too. Further west across the next bridge. See more details of Berlin Hauptbahnhof Station