“In the case of the Reichstag, [it] fitted in perfectly with the philosophy that the project enveloped history and then released it again so that a new history could emerge from it.”

—Wolfgang Volz

Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Der Deutsche Reichstag - Berlin), executed in 1977, is a meticulously conceived preparatory collage by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, created in anticipation of one of the duo’s most ambitious and politically-charged public projects. Renowned for their monumental, temporary interventions in the public space, Christo and Jeanne-Claude declined sponsorship and government backing, instead entirely financing their projects by selling original drawings, preparatory studies and collages such as the present work. In doing so, they retained artistic independence, positioning their oeuvre beyond the limits of ownership, commerce and institutional control.

The concept for Wrapped Reichstag originated in 1971, when American journalist Michael Cullen sent the couple a postcard of the historic building. The project came to fruition only in June 1995, following decades of negotiation with authorities and exhaustive planning. Remaining wrapped for 14 days, the final work involved 100,000 square metres of thick, woven polypropylene fabric; securing the 15,600 metres of rope which held it in place required the expertise of 90 professional climbers and 120 installation workers. Over this period, Wrapped Reichstag was visited by over 5 million people, becoming a defining moment in the history of public art. Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Der Deutsche Reichstag - Berlin) offers an intimate glimpse into the artists’ process at a relatively early point in their planning process. Showing the monument from a high vantage point on the western side of the Tiergarten, the work characteristically merges fabric and twine collage elements with carefully drawn crayon, pen and graphite illustrations. Testament to the ambition and scale of the project, it evocatively situates the conceived Wrapped Reichstag within its urban and natural environment.

Covered in white textile, the Reichstag’s Neo-Renaissance façade is rendered as a ghostly silhouette, its classical form softened, abstracted and transformed into an ethereal presence that both obscures and alludes to its historical symbolism. Standing out stark against the dark foreground, the haptic white fabric realistically imitates the dynamism and visual effect of the later realised project. At its core, the present work evinces the couples’ understanding of fabric’s unique quality of intrinsic impermanence. In another way, the luminous pale fabric and unusual perspective recalls the white marble and elevated position of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, a symbol of democracy made manifest through architecture. For Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Reichstag represented a cathartic means by which to address the building’s turbulent history: from its Imperial origins and destruction by fire in 1933, to its division during the Cold War and reinstatement as the seat of the Bundestag after German reunification. For Christo, who fled Bulgaria’s Communist regime, the project would be both personal and political—an emblem of transformation and freedom.