The History of the Berlinische Galerie

BERLINISCHE GALERIE LANDESMUSEUM FÜR MODERNE ALTE JAKOBSTRASSE 124-128 FON +49 (0) 30 789 02 600 KUNST, FOTOGRAFIE UND ARCHITEKTUR 10969 BERLIN FAX +49 (0) 30 789 02 700 STIFTUNG ÖFFENTLICHEN RECHTS POSTFACH 610355 10926 BERLIN BG@BERLINISCHEGALERIE.DE PRESS INFORMATION Ulrike Andres Leitung Marketing & Kommunikation Fon 030 789 02-829 andres@berlinischegalerie.de Berlin, 7. Juli 2011 The History of the Berlinische Galerie The state museum devoted to modern art, photography and architecture produced in Berlin is one of the city s youngest, but can still look back on a rather eventful history. Founded as a private society in 1975, existing with no domicile of its own for a long time and even entirely homeless for seven interim years the Berlinische Galerie opened its own premises on Alte Jakobstraße in Berlin-Kreuzberg in October 2004. 1975 The Berlinische Galerie was founded as a private society. Its initiator was art historian Eberhard Roters. Showing great foresight, he recognised a significant gap in the Berlin museum scene at the time: no institution existed that was dedicated systematically to art made in Berlin. On the one hand, there was the Nationalgalerie, which collected modern art, but on an international level and with no specific Berlin reference; on the other hand, there was the Berlin Museum - concerned with themes relevant to Berlin, but not with fine art in particular. Roters employed his great conviction and considerable charm to gather a community of like-minded art enthusiasts around him; they founded the Berlinische Galerie quasi as patrons through a citizens initiative on 21 st November 1975. 1977 The Berlinische Galerie took over a building including its own exhibition areas for the first time. Three rooms were available in a small gallery on Jebensstraße near to the Zoo Station (today this is the home of the Helmut Newton Foundation) in order to present the artworks that had been collected to date. The first small, but high-quality exhibitions made even previously sceptical observers aware of the potential behind Roters apparently simple idea. Since the invention of modernism, the city had repeatedly attracted the protagonists of international art activity, who found both inspiration and Foto André Kirchner Foto: Nina Straβgütl 1

an audience in the whirling metropolis. Classical modernism in particular - from Impressionism, Expressionism, Dada, New Objectivity to the Russian avant-garde - experienced stimuli and developments that led to the development of a specific Berlin history of art. When it came to acquisitions, the museum was supported by private patrons and very reliably by the Foundation Deutsche Klassenlotterie. But Roters flair and understanding of art were paired with the fact that many artists, especially from the period between the wars, were indeed largely forgotten at that time, known to a small, initiated circle at best: Roters received paintings that would be hardly affordable today at very reasonable prices or even as donations to the museum. The history of the Berlinische Galerie is also a story of rediscovery - of lost and forgotten treasures. Well-known, significant names like Felix Nussbaum, Otto Freundlich, Conrad Felixmüller, Ludwig Meidner, Arthur Segal, Erwin Blumenfeld, Erich Salomon, and certainly those artists who have always been easy to overlook, like Jeanne Mammen or even Hannah Höch and many, many others would still not mean very much to us today, perhaps, if Roters had not rescued them from oblivion and saved their works for the Berlinische Galerie (and so for Berlin!). 1986 The Berlinische Galerie was given the first floor of the Martin Gropius Building as a long-term temporary location. In this way, the collection, which had long since grown out of the small rooms on Jebensstraße, received a representative domicile but with a sting in its tail: it did not belong to the gallery alone. During the 12 years in which the museum resided here, it was obliged quite regularly to clear its treasures out of the way to make space for large-scale special exhibitions that filled the whole of the building. At first, however, it was a matter for celebration. To crown this triumph, director Eberhard Roters also succeeded in acquiring a very special work of art. Just on time for the move into the Gropius Building, again with help from the Lotto Foundation and the Federal Home Office, he was able to purchase a masterpiece costing millions by one of the most famous artists with close ties to Berlin: Otto Dix s Portrait of the Poet Ivar von Lücken. As a result, along with a splendid new residence, the Berlinische Galerie could also display its first internationally acclaimed gem in the collection. Before this background, it was no longer difficult for Roters to gather together a large number of extremely valuable loans from all over the world for his legendary exhibition Ich und die Stadt (The City and I) in 1987: Dix, Beckmann, Kirchner, Nolde, Puni, Schmidt-Rottluff, Schad, Schlichter... Between their outstanding masterpieces, as if in one big family, hung pictures by much lesser known painters from the collection of the Berlinische Galerie, impressively demonstrating their previously overlooked qualities in such highclass society. Roters successor, Jörn Merkert, who took over the directorship in 1987, also succeeded in acquiring top-ranking works for the collections of the steadily growing museum. After the Tate Gallery, it possesses the second biggest collection of works by Naum Gabo in the world, for example, and the Synthetic Musician by Iwan Puni has become something of a trademark at OTTO DIX Der Dichter Iwar von Lücken, 1926 Erworben aus Mitteln der Stiftung DKLB, des Bundesminister des Inneren und des Museumsfonds des Senators für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten Berlin, 1988 IWAN PUNI Synthetischer Musiker, 1921 Erworben aus Mitteln der Senatsverwaltung für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten Berlin und Spendenmitteln, 1991 2

the Berlinische Galerie. The richness of the concept art produced in Berlin has been disclosed more and more over the years. Alongside the permanent presentation of the collection, outstanding and exciting changing exhibitions continued to take place, such as Stationen der Moderne (Stages of Modernism, 1988) or Berlin-Moscow/Moscow-Berlin (1995), documenting the extent to which art events in this city have always been linked by proximity and exchange to international artistic developments - and this is still true today. But there was no change, of course, in the location s basic problem. The long-term temporary domicile in the Martin Gropius Building was not actually the museum s own building, meaning that it was impossible for the collection to maintain a constant public presence. 1990 Inside the exhibition rooms of the Martin Gropius Building, which stands immediately alongside the Wall, it was even possible to hear the hammering of the Mauerspechte (Wall Woodpeckers) as hundreds of thousands of souvenir seekers secured their small piece of the concrete-cast symbol of German division, which had finally been overcome. Just as the Gropius Building suddenly found itself at the centre of the reunified city, the Berlinische Galerie also took on a new position within the panorama of Berlin museums overnight. On the one hand, it had never been conceived as a West Berlin gallery, but had simply been compelled to limit its activities to this part of the city as a result of the political situation; on the other hand, there had been no such thing as an East Berlin gallery and so it was not possible to merge with another institution. The Berlinische Galerie, therefore, simply became responsible for twice the area. It was now necessary, in the eastern part of the city, to catch up with everything that had been established in the West especially with regard to collecting and promoting contemporary art. This happened very quickly. As early as 1991, for example, the museum received a unique collection on the History of Photography of the GDR from the Association of Fine Artists of the GDR, which had disbanded. Indeed, generally speaking, the artists of East Berlin perceived the Berlinische Galerie as their new home very quickly. Nor did the state of Berlin itself have to search long when, for example, it became necessary to archive the numerous architectural competitions to redesign the inner city in the following years: the models and documentation of the submitted designs, e.g. for the Reichstag or Lehrter Station, found a good home in the architecture collection of the Berlinische Galerie. To the present day, they are integrated into the exhibition programme on a regular basis. Jewgeni Jewtuschenko und Eberhard Diepgen bei der Eröffnung von Berlin/Moskau 1995 Sir Norman Fosters Entwurf für den Umbau des Reichstags vielleicht das prominenteste Beispiel für die zahllosen Architekturwettbewerbe, deren Entwürfe und Modelle die BG verwahrt. 1995 A very important step was taken, and the Berlinische Galerie - still a private society - was transformed into a public law foundation. It became a state museum: corresponding to the museum s long indispensible contribution to the finding of cultural identity in Berlin, whereby the city s changeable history in the 20 th century - with all its radical breaks, catastrophes and new beginnings - is reflected in the artworks of our collection. 3

Meanwhile, the problem of location was also being taken seriously at the highest political level in the city. There was talk of the Postfuhramt on Oranienburger Straße in Berlin-Mitte as the ideal solution, but negotiations with the owner dragged on for years. Sometimes, the parties seemed close to agreement, but then a solution appeared to drift even further away. Director Jörn Merkert and his colleagues did all they could to prompt good fortune by imaginative means: they collected signatures, organised letters of support from recognised museums all over the world, and not least, they attracted sponsors who would have been willing to help with restoration measures at the Postfuhramt. But despite all those efforts, the negotiations ground to a halt. It looked as if the negotiations would fail, but still this was hard to accept the Berlinische Galerie had just attracted more than 10,000 visitors into the empty Postfuhramt with a small rehearsal appearance on the Long Night of Museums when the staff heard some new evil tidings. 1997 The Berlin Senate decided to restore the Martin Gropius Building in order to establish it for future use as a major national exhibition hall. That meant two things for the Berlinische Galerie: firstly, it had to move out in a hurry at the end of 1997 because of the restoration work. Secondly, it could not move back in again after completion, because there were already other plans for the whole building. The Senate had completely forgotten about that. Homeless! Packed away into storage! It was a catastrophe for a museum that is naturally dependent on the presentation of its collection and even more so, when it needed to generate sympathies for its aim. After the first shock, Jörn Merkert and his team remembered what they had already learnt from necessity - to improvise and not give up easily! While provisional offices and depot rooms were being set up in the former Schultheiss brewery on Methfesselstraße in Kreuzberg, the curators put together an exhibition including around 200 masterpieces from the collection entitled 100 Jahre Kunst im Aufbruch, which travelled through Europe for two years. It attracted widespread attention as a cultural ambassador of Berlin and naturally the intention was that this would reflect back on public opinion in Berlin itself. But soon an unexpected opportunity arose in the Schultheiss brewery. Under the brewery there are huge vaulted halls once ice cellars which would have been ideally suited to use as museum space after corresponding conversion measures. Soon, agreements were met with the investors who wished to develop the whole area, and ultimately the necessary funding from the state of Berlin was assured after tough negotiations with the Senator of Finance at the time, Annette Fugmann-Heesing. With their inherent optimism, the workers at the museum soon started on planning work. A division of rooms was conceived - a meticulous task, whereby they could not afford to forget anything, from exhibition hall to delivery access, kitchenettes and toilets. The first insulation work also began on the ancient walls... The dream came so close to fulfilment, but was shattered at the last minute. Quite unforeseeably, the site investment company went into administration due to insolvency in 2001. And so the Berlinische Galerie s new domicile was dead and buried overnight as well; two years work ended in the waste bin. Sommerfest zur Langen Nacht der Museen im Innenhof des Postfuhramts 1997 Gewölbe der Schultheiss-Brauerei Direktor Jörn Merkert noch enthusiastisch vor einer Werbetafel des Projekts Viktoria Quartier in der Schultheiss-Brauerei 4

2004 However, there was a happy end after all; one that no one still believed could happen. Even the staff of the Berlinische Galerie well practised in crises were at their wit s end after the collapse of the Schultheiss project. After all the energy that had been put into previous, failed visions, it was almost impossible to find a ray of hope anywhere. Especially as during the years of searching for suitable locations, everything even remotely conceivable had actually already been checked and rejected for a wide variety of reasons. But the museum experienced luck in adversity, in two respects. Firstly, the funding granted and made available by the Senate for the Schultheiss project could be saved from the investors bankruptcy case, since the bank had vouched for them. If a new building project could be found, therefore, the same sum would be available. Secondly, the Munich construction company DIBAG, with which unsuccessful negotiations had been held concerning other locations in the past, submitted a final suggestion. Even the DIBAG itself could hardly believe in its audacity. This was a huge, empty warehouse in Alte Jakobstraße, which had been built to stockpile panes of glass by the Senate during the Cold War in 1966 and was no longer required, of course. The ground plan measured sixty by sixty metres, it was twelve metres high, and there was a separate office area at one side. Jörn Merkert and his team were immediately enthusiastic after entering the hall for the first time and quickly imagined just how it could be made suitable for the museum s use: inserting an interim ceiling, creating two floors with plenty of exhibition space and still generous ceiling height, and renewing the cellar rooms under the building as a depot... The planning work started all over again, and a rarely precedented miracle of public building in Berlin occurred. A strict financial limit was placed on the entire building project - the sum available - and in the end it really did not cost a single cent more than had been planned. Of course, this could only succeed with extreme economy and the rejection of any unnecessary luxury. Once again, the staff s imaginative approach proved a blessing, as well as the skill at finding support from private patrons and sponsors that had been developed over the course of those years of privation. One example - the total sum for building did cover the construction of an events hall (auditorium), but the money was not sufficient for seating as well. What could be done? A chair donation action among the members of the society of friends resulted in more than 40,000 Euros, which was even more than required for the necessary 240 chairs. Each individual chair now bears a small sign with the name of the donor... Umbau des ehemaligen Glaslagers zum neuen Standort der Berlinischen Galerie Eröffnung der Berlinischen Galerie in der Alten Jakobstraße mit dem Regierenden Bürgermeister Klaus Wowereit am 22. Oktober 2004 5

2009 The Berlinische Galerie can now look back over five years in its own building and half a million visitors from all over the world. Now, at last, it can show its treasures in a comprehensive, permanent presentation of the collection in addition, there are regular and successful changing exhibitions creating a national and international impact. One example was Brücke - die Geburt des deutschen Expressionismus (The Birth of German Expressionism), a collaboration with the Brücke-Museum and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, which represented the high point of the Brücke anniversary year in 2005. Or there was the retrospective exhibition Emilio Vedova 1919-2006 in close cooperation with the Galleria Nazionale d Arte Moderna in Rome, which showed the main representative of Italian Abstract Expressionism comprehensively for the first time in Germany and thus placed the seal on the artist s donation to the Berlinische Galerie, valued at four and a half million Euros. Or last year s Soweit kein Auge reicht, an exhibition of previously unseen city panoramas from the post-war period, which amazed not only ten thousands of Berliners. After all the support that the Berlinischen Galerie experienced in difficult times from the society of friends, and from numerous patrons and sponsors, it is now able to give something back: above all, this is true of the promotion of young contemporary artists, for whom Berlin has again developed a huge attraction after reunification in exhibitions like Neue Heimat (2007) or the current show Berlin 89/09, the Berlinische Galerie repeatedly creates a prominent forum for contemporary art. The state museum, usually in partnership and collaboration with other institutions, also promotes art and artists by awarding high-ranking art prizes. The old master of art informel Fred Thieler, for example, has initiated a prize endowed with 10,000 Euros for outstanding positions in contemporary painting, which is presented every two years. In honour of the founding director, the Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge Prize for unconventional art mediation endowed with 10,000 Euros and the 15,500 Euros prize money of the Eberhard Roters Fellowship for Young Art are also awarded alternately, every two years, by the state museum in conjunction with the Foundation Preußische Seehandlung. The Berlinische Galerie also organises the Hannah Höch Prize endowed by the Senate Offices of Science, Research and Culture, and pays host to the GASAG Art Prize and the exhibition of prizewinners of the Vattenfall Art Prize Energy. The very young do not miss out, either: in the Atelier Bunter Jakob children and teens can experience their first adventures with art techniques in direct dialogue with the artworks of the collection. EMILIO VEDOVA Absurdes Berliner Tagebuch `64, 1964 (Plurimo 1-7) Dauerhafte Präsentation der Malerei- Assemblage von Emilio Vedova, eine Schenkung des Künstlers an die Berlinische Galerie. Soweit kein Auge reicht, FRITZ TIEDEMANN / ARWED MESSMER, Rüdersdorfer Straße, 10. Oktober 1952 Berlin 89/09, OLAF METZEL Fünfjahrplan, 1985 6