BERLIN Parliament rejected a last-minute attempt to save what is left of the Palace of the Republic in Berlin, the home of the East German Parliament, and demolition is now expected to begin next month.

The fate of the building - a huge steel-and-concrete complex with bronze-colored windows that opened in 1976 and also housed a concert hall - has divided Berliners for more than a decade. After German reunification in 1990, the building was closed, and it was gutted after asbestos contamination was discovered.