Excavations are currently underway on the new Frankonia construction site on Schinkelplatz in Berlin, where a boulder measuring about 120 cm x 80 cm has been found by a construction worker. The origin of the rock, which is being stored separately, is unclear. It is currently being checked whether a place will be found for it later as a feature in the gardens. This large boulder is not the first find on the site. In December 2015 construction workers discovered foundation walls from the 16th and 17th centuries. FRANKONIA had the stones removed carefully and put into storage. The plan is to integrate the wall remains into the project. The boulder and the wall remains are currently the only evidence of the settlement history of the city on this site. However, during the preparations for the foundations of the Berlin City Palace, remains of wooden foundations were also found. Since 2014, more and more discoveries have been made in the areas around Alexanderplatz, Gendarmenmarkt, and Schlossplatz Mühlendamm – bones, tombs, remains of walls – which have been documented by the Berlin Landesdenkmalamt (State Conservation Agency of Berlin). The construction management has been instructed to register each fragment found during the rest of the excavation work. It will be decided how the objects found will be used, on a case-by-case basis.

1 March 2016