Der Bevölkerung

Hans Haacke's neon installation in the Reichstag, voted into place by the Bundestag in 2000 — a political counterpoint to "Dem Deutschen Volke".

"Der Bevölkerung" (To the Population) is a permanent artwork by Hans Haacke in the north courtyard of the Berlin Reichstag, installed in 2000 by resolution of the German Bundestag. A trough measuring 21 by 7 meters, framed in wooden beams and filled with soil brought from the constituencies of the then-sitting members of parliament, carries neon letters rising from its center into the open sky: "DER BEVÖLKERUNG." The work deliberately references the inscription above the Reichstag's main portal — "Dem Deutschen Volke" (To the German People) — and offers a more inclusive counterformulation. The soil in the trough, deposited by parliamentarians themselves, has since produced a spontaneous garden of wild plants; the piece changes over time. The Bundestag vote on the installation was contested and passed narrowly. Today the work is part of the parliament's permanent art collection and is visible from the public visitor tour.