Fotoeins Fotografie

Above: “Wrapped Reichstag 1995–2025” light show.

In 1995, the artist duo Christo & Jeanne-Claude carried out a bold but contentious project by covering Berlin’s landmark Reichstag parliament building. Plans for the project had taken over 20 years, even though the artwork had always meant to be temporary and all expenses had been covered without corporate sponsors. Over 5 million visited in a period of 12 days in the summer of 1995 to look at the undulating “silver dream” in the German capital city. The timing was ideal. After reunification of the two Germanys in 1990, the new home of the federal parliament would be Berlin’s Reichstag. Renovations to the building began in the autumn of 1995 with the federal parliament opening in the spring of 1999.

From 9 to 22 June 2025, the Reichstag building was illuminated nightly with a light show in a 30-year anniversary tribute to the famous 1995 artwork. In a 20- to 30-minute cycle, the light-show appeared to first envelop the building in silver fabric. The fabric cover flapped in artificial breeze, before the cover lost its shape and fell onto the ground at the base of the building. The free-of-charge light show began shortly after sunset at about 930pm and continued until 1am. Whatever Christo and Jeanne-Claude chose to cover and transform, their art works posed questions of perception, origins, shape, functionality, and permanence.

•   DW: Germany Arts
•   Visit Berlin

30 Years to (un)Wrap

“Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971–1995”, by Christo and Jeanne Claude; 1995 photo by Wolfgang Volz in Berlin. Courtesy of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.

Wrapped Reichstag 1995-2025 light illumination show (X70).

“The fabric cover comes down” (X70).

“The Reichstag wrapped in fabric” (X70).

“The fabric unwraps and falls” (X70).

“Wrapped Reichstag 1995–2025”, 64 seconds (P15):

I received neither prior support nor post-visit compensation for this post. Except for the 1995 image from the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, I made all other media on 16 Jun 2025 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime (X70) and an iPhone15 (P15). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-wL1.