Knick-Ei - Media Coverage

Media Coverage

After the two collapses, which were covered by media throughout Germany, the rest of the dented egg's story up to the completion of its demolition was primarily covered by regional media. On two more occasions, the dented egg received the attention of the national media:

• On January 2, 2006, the roof of the city of Bad Reichenhall's ice rink collapsed under the load of snow after several days of severe snowfall, killing 15 people, among them 12 children. Subsequent investigations revealed both design flaws of the roof and the use of materials of inferior quality during construction. Several halls with similar designs were found to have the same flaws which had not been discovered by the responsible authorities at the time when they were built. The dented egg was sometimes quoted as another example for a sports hall whose design flaws should have been discovered prior to construction.

• On January 18 and 19, 2007, hurricane "Kyrill" swept across Europe. The weather conditions were so severe that Deutsche Bahn, the German railways, completely shut down its operations nationwide for the first time ever. During the storm, an 8.4 m long steel girder, weighing 1.35 tons, loosened from the front of Berlin's Central Station, which was opened in May 2006, and fell 40 meters to the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt. A major newspaper from Hamburg reported that the construction design for the building's front came from Schlaich, Bergermann & Partner, the same company responsible for the collapses of the dented egg's roof. National media picked up the report. Schlaich, Bergermann & Partner refused to comment on both incidents.