Chialo: Central library against "deserted" Friedrichstrasse

Senator for Culture - Chialo: Central library against "deserted" Friedrichstrasse

Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo sees the Central and State Library project in the building still used as a luxury department store by Galeries Lafayette as a boost against a decaying Friedrichstraße. "The library is also an economic factor. Take a look at Friedrichstraße right now. It's a sad picture there because it's becoming more and more deserted," the CDU politician told the German Press Agency. "It is exactly the right, easily accessible location for a central and state library right in the heart of Berlin."

A new location has been sought for the Central and State Library for years, where the two locations on Blücherplatz and Breite Straße could be brought together. Chialo spoke out in favor of Quartier 207 at an early stage, but the proposal was not always met with approval. At the beginning of October, the French department store announced that it would be closing its Friedrichstraße branch at the end of 2024.

Chialo was confident. "We have never been this far with the Central and Regional Library - in terms of discussions within my group and the creation of a possible model that could serve as funding. We now want to put the figures we have into an in-depth examination as soon as possible, hopefully with the result that we can then enter into serious negotiations. The idea and vision of a central state library live on."

The Senator for Culture is also counting on international support. "Rob Speyer, the head of the New York real estate company Tishman Speyer, has clearly signaled to us that he would be delighted if this property were to become the ZLB here in Berlin." The US company Tishman Speyer took over the property in 2022. "So we are not working on a model in a vacuum, but are dealing with someone on this side who is open to setting it up together with us," said Chialo. This gives "a good feeling" for the feasibility.

"I hope that we will have the finished conversion in 2026/2027. In this respect, of course, we now have to switch up. We're at the point where we're starting to work in the background and to set up the structures in concrete terms," says Chialo. "We want a model that can be mapped and implemented in terms of funding, especially in these difficult financial years." No funds have yet been earmarked in the double budget that has just been passed.

The initiative by political newcomer Chialo caught the CDU and SPD coalition partners largely unprepared. The former music manager also explains this with his past. "That's the way I've worked successfully in the music industry: I discover a voice, think it's great, think to myself, wow, let's go!" His job was then to convey this enthusiasm to others, right through to a specific project. "In politics, you have to gather majorities and have lots of conversations, convince people, which is essential in the democratic process."

Chialo: "But sometimes it's not so bad if both sides leave the beaten track and perhaps take a disruptive approach to put a topic on the agenda that no one had previously thought of." This connects and creates common goals. When it comes to the new location for the Central and State Library, he is not interested in "hacking it to pieces in a party-political petty squabble, we all have to be in the mood for it". The SPD also sees the sense of it. "Now it's about convincing people with a financing model."

ZLB Cultural Administration Galeries Lafayette