The German government is stepping in with the hopes of buying the historic Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, one of the country’s most famous institutions for contemporary art, out of private hands. An extension off the former train station that was abandoned for decades after World War II is also likely to be demolished by a development company.
“Negotiations [are] on the right track,” said a spokesperson for the government, according to Monopol. A report in Die Welt reports that, ironically, the Berlin Senate failed in 2003 to secure the building by letting its first right of refusal slip by and allowing the site to be privatized and sold by federal company Deutsche Bahn to CA Immo.
“We have always stressed and supported the importance of the site as an art and exhibition location,” a spokesperson from CA Immo told Artnet News. The company declined to comment on the status of the ongoing negotiations with the German government. “We are of the opinion that the Hamburger Bahnhof, with the Museum für Gegenwart, is an enrichment not only for the micro-location, but for the whole of Berlin.”
[An earlier version incorrectly stated that the Hamburger Bahnhof is at risk of being demolished. It is only the Rieckhallen, an extension, not the train station, that is up for demolition.]
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