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Witness History: How Christo wrapped the Reichstag

Documentaries

Wrapping the Reichstag

03/06/2020 GMT

How Christo wrapped the Reichstag

BBC World Service - Witness History, How Christo wrapped the Reichstag

The artist who delighted post-Cold War Berlin by wrapping its greatest monument

The artist who delighted post-Cold War Berlin by wrapping one of its greatest monuments in silver fabric.

The artist Christo died on May 31st 2020. Famous for wrapping landmarks in fabric and plastic, one of his most ambitious projects was the former German parliament building which sat on the border between East and West Berlin. It had been gutted by fire in 1933 and extensively damaged during the Second World War. In June 1995 Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude completed the monumental public art project which was seen by more than five million people and became a symbol for Berlin’s renewal after the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany.

Christo spoke to Lucy Burns in 2019. This programme is a rebroadcast.

Picture: view of west and south facades of Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin 1971-1995 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Photo by Wolfgang Volz, copyright Christo.

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