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The AquaDom (mixed Latin and German: 'water dome', more formally 'water cathedral') was a Template:Convert cylindrical acrylic glass aquarium with built-in transparent elevator inside the lobby of the Radisson Collection Hotel in the DomAquarée complex at Karl-Liebknecht-Straße in Berlin-Mitte, Germany.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The DomAquarée complex also contains offices, a museum, a restaurant, and the Berlin Sea Life Centre aquarium.

On 16 December 2022, the AquaDom aquarium ruptured and collapsed, propelling the 1,500 fish inside into nearby facilities and streets, causing considerable damage and killing the majority of the fish. A new indoor garden took its place in the hotel lobby, which reopened in February 2025.<ref name=replacement>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=reopening/>

ConstructionEdit

The AquaDom opened on 2 December 2003<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> at a cost of about 12.8 million euros.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The acrylic cylinder was manufactured by International Concept Management, Inc. using Reynolds Polymer Technology panels, with architecture drawings provided by Sergei Tchoban. It was located in the same building as the Berlin Sea Life attraction but was owned and operated by Union Investment.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The aquarium was constructed from 41 acrylic panels – 26 panels for the outside cylinder and 15 panels for the inside cylinder for the elevator – which were bonded together on site.Template:R With a diameter of about Template:Cvt and a height of about Template:Cvt, resting on a Template:Cvt tall foundation, it held the Guinness World Record for the world's largest cylindrical aquarium.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

OperationEdit

The water column was Template:Cvt high,<ref name="ACBA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> held Template:Convert of saltwater and accommodated about 1,500 tropical fish from over 100 species. A team of scuba divers conducted daily feedings, with Template:Cvt of feed-fish, and cleaned the tank daily.<ref name=RPT>Template:Citation</ref> According to Union Investment, the owner of the complex,<ref>Diese Unternehmen stehen hinter dem Aquadom in Berlin, Thomas Krause, Stern, 17 December 2022</ref> the wall thickness of the outer acrylic cylinder was Template:Convert at the bottom and Template:Convert at the top. The water temperature was kept at Template:Convert.<ref name="BZ">Aquadom geplatzt Template:Webarchive, B.Z., 16 December 2022</ref>

In 2020, the aquarium was refurbished and upgraded, with all the water drained and the fish temporarily relocated to a breeding facility in the basement.<ref name="Reuters16Dec2022"/> According to the owner, seals were renewed at the base and an additional sealing level was fitted. The cylinder was repaired and polished in places. Maintenance work on the elevator was conducted.<ref name="BZ"/>

Collapse and aftermathEdit

File:AquaDom Burst.png
Rescue workers searching through the debris of the AquaDom on the morning of 16 December 2022.

The cylindrical tank burst at 5:43 am local time (4:43 am GMT) on 16 December 2022, sending approximately Template:Convert of water together with the tank's 1,500 fish into the hotel lobby and adjacent street. Sandra Weeser, a member of Germany's Bundestag staying at the hotel at the time, described awakening to "a kind of shock wave".<ref name="BBC16Dec2022">Template:Cite news</ref>

Berlin's Technisches Hilfswerk (THW) rescue team mounted a full-scale deployment,<ref name="NYTDec162022">Template:Cite news</ref> completing operations 12 hours later — with the hotel's lobby and atrium remaining devastated, described by onlookers as resembling a battlefield.Template:R

The majority of the 1,500 fish were killed<ref name="CTVNews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and two people were hospitalized with injuries. Officials noted the collapse could easily have taken several lives had it taken place during the hotel's busier operational hours.<ref name="NYTDec162022"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Reuters16Dec2022">Template:Cite news</ref>

Detected by local seismographs, the collapse sent the water out of the hotel lobby and into nearby storm drains, but not before damaging several nearby businesses, including a neighboring Lindt chocolate shop<ref name="NYTDec162022"/> and the basement of the adjacent DDR Museum, the latter of which reopened three and a half months later.<ref name=rbb>Template:Citation</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An associated power loss threatened hundreds of smaller fish in the facility's breeding tanks, which were ultimately rescued.<ref name="CTVNews" /><ref name=rbb2>Template:Citation</ref>

With no suspicion of foul play, and prior to a formal investigation, suspected causes included material fatigue,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> exacerbated by the difference between Berlin's very low air temperature (Template:Convert that night), and the tank's water temperature (Template:Convert).<ref name="Temperatur">RTL aktuell, 16 December 2022</ref>

On 24 October 2023, prosecutors closed the investigation into the rupture after experts failed to determine a conclusive cause.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The hotel reopened after two years on 12 February 2025, with a Template:Convert vertical garden consisting of about 2,000 plants replacing the aquarium.<ref name=reopening>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Similar eventsEdit

Catastrophic failures and major leaks have occurred at numerous large acrylic tanks, including failures at the T-Rex Café at Disney Springs in Orlando; the Dubai Aquarium at the Dubai Mall; the Orient Shopping Center, Shanghai; the Gulfstream Casino, Hallandale Beach, Florida; at the Lotte Tower, Seoul, South Korea and at the Mazatlan, Mexico Aquarium.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation Alternative URL</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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