Berlin’s newest tourist draw – a futuristic box

Berlin unveiled its latest tourist attraction –a futuristic box that will sit for the next few years on a downtown square where a replica Prussian palace is to be built.

The so-called Humboldt Box rises some 28 metres above one end of the capital’s Unter den Linden boulevard, opposite the neoclassical Museum Island complex.

The roughly hexagonal silver and blue building offers spectacular views and hosts exhibitions on the planned palace – construction of which has been delayed as part of an austerity package. It is now slated for completion in 2019.

Officials say the box’s modern appearance was a deliberate choice.

Hermann Parzinger, who heads the foundation that oversees Berlin’s museums, said visitors may be “surprised by the architecture... and want to see what’s in there”.