Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Berlin – 2008

The current Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs was housed in 2000 as the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in the main building of the former State Propaganda Ministry on Wilhelmstraße. The first construction phase of the reconstruction and extension was realized between 1998-2001. It included the landmarked conversion of the main house from the 30s including a green courtyard design, the heritage-protected transformation of the Kleisthaus (the former Heydt banking house from 1912 on Mauer street) into a visitor center as well as their extension through a spacious, glass-covered hall, that acts as a central entrance for the entire building ensemble.

The more elaborate southern extension was realized between 2004 and 2008. It developed the property between the main building on Wilhelm Street and the Ritterschaft Bank located at Zietenplatz as well as the vacant lot between the Ritterschaft building and the Thuringian State Representative building on Mohren Street. The design of the new buildings is based on the filtration of classical elements of these different architectural epochs into a modern architecture respecting and reflecting the history of the place. The new buildings incorporate the landmarked building of the former Ritterschaft bank in the Neo-Renaissance style of 1895 – of which the renovation and modernization was also connected with the southern extension.