MUNICH.- For years »reconstruction« has been the subject of a heated debate. However, reconstructions can be found since Antiquity, as throughout history buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt if required, for a variety of reasons and with alternating perceptions and definitions of »reconstruction«. A look at history and a differentiated view at the concepts can help to set the problems and arguments in a wider historical context, thus relieving the current discussion of its emotional aspect. As exposed witnesses of the past and in front of everyone’s eyes, buildings have always played a particular part in the formation and imprint of a »cultural memory«
(Jan Assmann). With a deliberate recourse, the lost ‘place of remembrance’ is restored as an important bearer of the most diverse meanings by means of a reconstruction. Many reconstructions have never been debated, such as the re-erection of the