The daily laser show at the Bundestag building divides opinions. Although the historical information conveyed on the brightly lit walls attracts many people, the ever-increasing electricity costs raise doubts about the project.
The power consumption for the daily laser show at the Berlin Bundestag will be almost 27,000 kilowatt hours in 2022 alone. According to calculations by the taxpayers’ association, this value is comparable to the power consumption of 60,000 WLAN routers when they run for half an hour. The laser show costs around 12,500 euros per day.
Two years ago, the Bundestag had a highlight video of the show made, which cost a whopping 119,000 euros. Rainer Holznagel, President of the Taxpayers’ Association, has no understanding for the high power consumption and asks: “Where is the off button?”
Words of support for the project come from the FDP. “The presentation of the Bundestag is (…) not about decorative lighting, but about conveying historical knowledge. As you can see every evening, the presentation is also very popular,” said FDP MP Torsten Herbst, who supports Bundestag President Bärbel Bas from the Council of Elders.
Meanwhile, Herbst is getting a headwind from his colleague. The parliamentary union manager Thorsten Frei, also with the council of elders, said to “Bild”: “The laser show does not fit into the time. For almost half a year we have been experiencing the effects of the Russian war of aggression and the consequences for our energy supply security. There would certainly have been enough opportunities for the Bundestag administration to change the plans. The Bundestag should set a good example.”
