As an experienced and valued economist, Eleanor Dulles took up the position of Representative for Berlin (after a period in Vienna as part of the four-power administration) in 1953 and organised numerous aid measures for the enclosed city. Despite many other and more financially extensive projects, the Congress Hall remains the most outstanding of her achievements:
“The most spectacular of our major projects in Berlin was the Congress Hall. My work, from the first concept to the final festive opening, represents one of the most satisfactory experiences in my working life.”