© 1995 Christo & Prestel Verlag

Interview with Christo

Interviewer: Masahiko Yanagi

Page 7 of 12

With friendly permission by Prestel Verlag

Collage (two parts) 1992
Foto: Wolfgang Volz
Private collection, Berlin

Yanagi:

As with all your other large scale projects, there must have been a lot of antagonism and objections toward your proposal. Could you give some examples ? I am especially curious about the Soviet Union's response.

When the project became known in the mid-'70s, there was a lot of writing, even an editorial in "Pravda" against the project. Of course the Soviets said that the Reichstag project was an American decadent stupidity and a frivolous imperialist intervention in Berlin, and it would be better if the Americans would spend money for the workers or the poor, etc. Of course they didn't see that the project had any importance for art. Their criticism of the Reichstag project was mostly for "interior consumption". Even though one of our Kuratorium members spoke with the Soviet ambassador a few months ago, I think the Soviets will still criticize the project, though more likely they will ignore it. Permission-wise they really don't care. This is not the only time. About The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Soviet television was saying that I was not an artist. They called me an American businessman who was wrapping the Pont Neuf to make millions of dollars selling T-shirts and postcards, which I never do. This is the current Soviet opinion about all of my projects, it was the same about the Running Fence and the Valley Curtain.

It is quite curious to see that, when the project was refused in 1977 by the conservative President of the German Parliament, Dr. Karl Carstens, his objection was exactly the same as that of one of the liberal writers, Günther Grass. Oddly enough they managed to agree in having the same point of view against the Reichstag project. Their main objection was: "Our duty is to keep ALL Germans united, and if there is a political division between East and West, at least we should keep a German cultural unity." They believe, as many Germans do, that people in East Germany have no knowledge of contemporary art and that they would not be able to understand my interpretation of the former Parliament of Germany. This is not true because West Berlin television programs are seen in East Berlin, T.V. waves cannot be stopped, and the East Berliners are daily aware of everything in the free world. In addition many West German art historians go to lecture in Leipzig and Dresden. In December 1985, when we were in West Berlin, we had a very ferocious meeting with some newspaper editors and political writers who still say that the wrapping of the Reichstag will hurt the feelings of the Germans. And there is no way to change their minds except by our proving that a majority of Germans would like to see the building wrapped.

Collage (two parts) 1992
Foto: Wolfgang Volz
Collection Jeanne-Claude Christo, New York

Yanagi:

In addition to its political implications are you interested in the architecture of the Reichstag?

I will wrap any building that is there. The building is not extremely interesting in itself. It is a typical Victorian structure, built by a prominent but not great architect, Wallot. The Chancellory, which is a building right in back of the Reichstag in what is now East Berlin, was built by the father of Walter Gropius... it is a much more handsome, though smaller building. But Wallot won the competition. It is a strange and awkward building. It runs 135 meters on the East and West facades, and for that length it is extremely narrow, only 96 meters. It has four towers and an enormous amount of reliefs and statues. By cutting the facade in many horizontal levels all its 42.5 meters height is completely lost, and it appears squashed. When the building is wrapped you will see much more of the structure's height. Bismarck laid the cornerstone, and actually the Reichstag started to function in the late nineteenth century, but neither the Kaiser nor Bismarck were ever interested in the building. The Reichstag was used as a truly democratic parliament only during the Weimar republic.

Could you continue with the history of the Reichstag?

Before the end of the war, the center of the city of Berlin with the ministries, the universities, the theaters and the Bauhaus was in what is today East Berlin. The east facade of the Reichstag looks to what is now East Berlin. All the Senators, politicians and ministers would enter the Reichstag from the east facade through the Tiergarten, while the west facade was only ceremonial. Because Bismarck decided to make it an imperial capital, Berlin was one of the best planned l9th century cities with fabulously long avenues such as the Unter Den Linden with the Brandenburg Gate just 150 meters from the Reichstag. The Reichstag is completely linked to this idea of the Prussian empire, and was the capital of Prussia. A famous German poet said, "the inside was built with such dark furniture and wooden walls that I'm not surprised that German politics is so dark: there's no light in the building." Philipp Scheidemann, the first Minister President, proclaimed the Weimar Republic from the window of the Reichstag.

That was the start of one of the most dramatic moments in German history, because it was followed by the arrival of the National Socialism Party and Hitler. The infamous fire of the Reichstag, instigated by Hitler in 1933 and which destroyed the dome, was the signal for the Nazis to start to persecute the progressive elements and the Jews, and organize the trial in Leipzig. In that trial, the accused were a Dutchman and, curiously enough, a Bulgarian named Dimitroff. After the fire, the Third Reich parliament met at the Opera of Berlin; Hitler never used the Reichstag except when Goering, who was president of the parliament, held the last meeting of the Third Reich in the Reichstag at the end of the war. Then in 1945 the Reichstag was terribly damaged in the Battle of Berlin. The Soviet general made it a point to take the Reichstag. The building was not a valuable strategic point during the battle; only symbolically was it important. There was a Nazi commando which was defending the building and apparently hundreds of Soviet soldiers died during the fighting which proceeded step by step, and floor by floor, inside the building until finally the Reichstag was taken over. There are actually, two famous photographs: one showing a Katyusha missile launcher with one of the bombs inscribed by the hand of a Russian soldier with the words "To the Reichstag," and the second one of a Soviet soldier at the top of the Reichstag hoisting the Soviet flag. The Reichstag remained in ruins until the late '60s, and finally the West German government made an agreement with Communist Germany to restore the building, which they did at a great cost. But they did not rebuild the dome.

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© 1995 Christo & Prestel Verlag