Past events
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Much has happened here

Swampland, city quarter, monastery, royal recidence, parade ground, Palace of the Republic, lawn, and now the Humboldt Forum. No other site in Berlin has experienced such a concentration of social, urban, political and cultural developments as the Schlossplatz. Over the past 800 years, this site is where those in power have built, redesigned, demolished and re-planned the buildings that were to give their political ambitions a visible form. At the Humboldt Forum, you will find four permanent exhibitions devoted to this history.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

A site of power

This site was and is a site of power. The buildings erected here were, and still are, used by the powerful as political symbols and as a public stage.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and his six sons on the morning of New Year’s Day 1908, on their way to the ‘Paroleausgabe’ (ceremony of giving watchwords to the guards) at the Zeughaus, Unter den Linden.
© bpk / Franz Kühn

Staged displays play an important role in spreading political messages. They continue to shape our perceptions of this site to this day.

A controversial site

For centuries, this site was a centre of power and a stage for displays of strength. For that very reason, it has also been a crucible for revolutionary protest and social debate.

Revolutions, demonstrations and debates aim to oppose power structures and their self-representations.

Rally of Coalition of Cultural Workers against the Humboldt Forum (CCWAH) und BARAZANI.berlin on the opening of the Humboldt Forum, 20. Juli 2021
© IMAGO / Matthias Reichelt

A working site

Whether at the Royal Palace, the Palace of the Republic, or the Humboldt Forum – for any grand show to work well, it takes many people working behind the scenes at all times.

The palace guard in the Schlüter Courtyard of the Berlin Palace, around 1890.
© akg-images

From the cellar to the roof – a wide variety of professions have been, and are, active on this site.

A public site

The buildings on this site have always been accessible to the public. Visitors went in and out, took care of official business in the Royal Palace or listened to a concert in the Palace of the Republic. Today, we invite you to discover the Humboldt Forum and everything it offers.

In front of the Royal Palace, in the Palace of the Republic and today at the Humboldt Forum – this is a place to encounter others.

Live broadcast of Deutschlandfunk Kultur radio station in the Foyer of the Humboldt Forum, 2022.
© Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, Foto: Mirko Nowak
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