After a long jury session, it was announced in the evening: Halle was proposed as the location for the new German Unity Center for the Future. Now the federal cabinet has to decide.
Halle an der Saale is to become the location for the planned future center for German unity and European transformation. This is what a selection committee proposes, as the German Press Agency found out on Tuesday evening. Five applications were in the running. In addition to Halle, there were Frankfurt (Oder), Eisenach, Jena and the duo Leipzig and Plauen.
The chair of the selection jury, SPD member of the Bundestag Katrin Budde, officially announced in the evening: “The majority of the jury decided to propose Halle/Saale as the location for the “Future Center German Unity and European Transformation”.
The decision in favor of Halle caused great joy in Saxony-Anhalt. “Halle is an ideal location for this center. The city’s scientific and cultural environment meets the highest standards,” said Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) in a tweet.
“As a state father, I am disappointed because the state applications from Jena and Eisenach had strong elements,” Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) told the editorial network Germany (RND). “But I respect the decision. In addition, the Halle-Jena-Leipzig metropolitan region will be further strengthened. The whole of Central Germany has good prospects.”
Meeting place and research center at the same time
The Future Center is intended to honor the achievements of German unification and make use of the experience gained for future upheavals and crises. After an architectural competition, a “building with outstanding modern architecture” is to be built by 2028 for up to 200 million euros. 40 million euros per year are earmarked for operation. The center is intended to be a meeting place and research center at the same time and to attract up to a million people every year.
The jury, chaired by SPD member of the Bundestag Katrin Budde, also included former Stasi commissioner Marianne Birthler, former Federal Minister Thomas de Maizière, Brandenburg’s former Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck and former FDP Deputy Cornelia Pieper. The federal government wants to follow the location recommendation of the jury.
Source: Stern
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