The bellyache of an architect

The Berlin District Court has
ruled that Deutsche Bahn must rebuild whole sections of the new
Hauptbahnhof according to the architect's plans, setting a spectacular
precedent. By Andreas Zielcke

Berlin's new main train station, the Hauptbahnhof,
cuts a solitary figure in the surrounding wasteland as it awaits an
urban development that will complement its ambition, aesthetics and
vast dimensions. But the verdict pronounced by the Berlin District
Court on Tuesday November 28 has brutally nipped this development
process in the bud. The judges ruled that the German rail company
Deutsche Bahn has unlawfully violated the intellectual property rights
of the station's architect, Meinhard von Gerkan. The rail company must rebuild the station according to the architect's plans. The station opened in May this year after a 13-year construction period.

For Deutsche Bahn, and in particular for its chairman Hartmut Mehdorn, the verdict is a terrible defeat, a debacle. The station is one of the most important and controversial
construction projects in Germany, and for Deutsche Bahn it was the
crowning glory of all its modernisation projects in recent years. But
the wrangling between rail boss and architect dates back to long before
the inauguration. At stake was the length of the upper platform hall which Deutsche Bahn, in breach of Gerkan's plans, had shortened by almost a third,
and also the ceiling design on the "audience-intensive" subterranean
floors. It is on this latter point that the District Court has now
ruled in Gerkan's favour.