Today and tomorrow is possible to go inside the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus, which is today the Department of Finances of Germany. At the time of its construction (1936) was the largest office building in Europe, to house the German Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium, or RLM), headed by Herman Goering.
After the WWII the huge structure was quickly repaired, only the Ehrensaal (Hall of Honour) being much altered, remodelled into the Stalinist neo-classicist Festsaal (Festival Hall), and the enormous Eagle and Swastika that adorned its end wall being removed.
On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was founded in a ceremony in the Festsaal, with Wilhelm Pieck as President and Otto Grotewohl as Prime Minister (Ministerpräsident). Later the building served the Council of Ministers of the GDR and other affiliated organizations of the GDR, hence its new name Haus der Ministerien (House of the Ministries).
The building is also famous for the The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany, which started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16, 1953. It turned into a widespread uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day.
The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Volkspolizei. In spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. Even after 17 June, there were demonstrations in more than 500 towns and villages.
After the WWII the huge structure was quickly repaired, only the Ehrensaal (Hall of Honour) being much altered, remodelled into the Stalinist neo-classicist Festsaal (Festival Hall), and the enormous Eagle and Swastika that adorned its end wall being removed.
On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was founded in a ceremony in the Festsaal, with Wilhelm Pieck as President and Otto Grotewohl as Prime Minister (Ministerpräsident). Later the building served the Council of Ministers of the GDR and other affiliated organizations of the GDR, hence its new name Haus der Ministerien (House of the Ministries).
The building is also famous for the The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany, which started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16, 1953. It turned into a widespread uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day.
The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Volkspolizei. In spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. Even after 17 June, there were demonstrations in more than 500 towns and villages.
