Matthias-Erzberger-Haus, Government building on Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany
The Matthias-Erzberger-Haus is a government building in Mitte at the corner of Unter den Linden and Wilhelmstrasse, displaying a modern steel-concrete frame structure with a facade of industrial elements and Schönbrunn sandstone. Inside, it houses offices for Bundestag representatives and retail spaces on the lower floors.
The building was erected in 1963–1964 to plans by Manfred Hörner, Hannelore Köhler and Eberhard Mueller as the seat of the GDR Ministry of People's Education, one of East Germany's first attempts at prefabricated assembly. After reunification, Gehrmann Consult & Partner gutted it in 1993–1994, keeping only the reinforced-concrete skeleton and recladding it in Schönbrunn sandstone. On 23 March 2017 Bundestag President Norbert Lammert announced its renaming after Matthias Erzberger.
The building was renamed in 2017 to honor Matthias Erzberger, a Center Party politician known for his role as a mediator in critical moments of German history. The name reflects his importance in negotiations and reforms during the Weimar Republic.
The building sits at a central intersection in the government quarter and is easily accessible on foot from the subway. The retail spaces on the ground floor are open to visitors, while the office areas in the upper floors are not open to public viewing.
The bronze portrait bust in front of the building, made by sculptor Bertrand Freiesleben, was unveiled in 2021, one hundred years after Erzberger was killed in a right-wing terrorist attack in 1921. Erzberger had signed the armistice of Compiègne in 1918.
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