''Wrapped Reichstag, Project for Berlin'' is a 1995 environmental artwork by artists

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks a ...

included as the wrapped up Berlin

Reichstag building The Reichstag (; ) is a historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik in Berlin that is the seat of the German Bundestag. It is also the meeting place of the Federal Convention, which elects the President of Germany. The Ne ...

in fabric.

History

A German citizens' group unsuccessfully advocated for the project in 1978 but the building, which held deep German national identity symbolism prior to reunification, required unavailable political will. Rita Süssmuth, the newly elected

President of the Bundestag The president of the Bundestag ( or ; Grammatical gender in German#Professions, when the office is held by a man) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker (poli ...

, expressed interest in the project in 1989, precipitating its approval. The project had been rejected three times across six Bundestag presidents and 24 years before its on 26 February 1994 during a debate at

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

an vote for approval, 296 votes for and 228 votes against. ''Wrapped Reichstag'' mounted in 1995 for two weeks as 100,000 square meters of silver fabric draped the building and fastened with blue rope. The Reichstag, which had not been in use, was later reconstructed for parliamentary use in 1999. Christo described the Reichstag wrapping as autobiographical. It became symbolic of unified Germany and marked Berlin's return as a world city. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' posthumously described the work as the pair's "most spectacular achievement".

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * Christo und Jeanne-Claude: ''Wrapped Reichstag. Berlin 1971–95''. Taschen, Köln 2002, . * Jacob Baal-Teshuva (Hrsg.): ''Christo, der Reichstag und urbane Projekte''. Prestel, München 1993, . * Jacob Baal-Teshuva: ''Christo & Jeanne-Claude'', mit Fotografien von Wolfgang Volz, Benedikt Taschen Verlag, Köln 1995. . * Burt Chernow: ''XTO + J-C''. List, München 2002, . * Henning Ritter: ''Die Liebe der Massen zur Kunst. Christos Triumph''. 1995. In: ''Die Wiederkehr der Wunderkammer. Über Kunst und Künstler'', Hanser, Berlin 2014, S. 240–247.

External links

{{Authority control 1995 works Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude 1995 in Berlin Reichstag building