How ‘Potsdamer Platz’ Reveals the Hidden Face of Pre-war Germany
An emblematic painting of German Expressionism.
oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany (CC0)
Potsdamer Platz is considered emblematic of German Expressionism, particularly the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. To what do we owe this distinction? Is it simply because these paintings escaped destruction by the Nazis? No, because art history considers them representative of an era and an artistic movement.
This painting is part of a very short period of the artist’s work known as the “Berlin Street Scenes” cycle. Painted between 1913 and 1915, the series breaks with Kirchner’s earlier and later styles. It depicts anonymous people in anonymous places. Potsdamer Platz is one of the few exceptions, however, as the buildings are clearly identifiable.
A worrying place
The Potsdamer Platz as Kirchner knew it no longer exists. The buildings lining it were destroyed by bombs during World War II and razed to the ground before the square was cut in two by the Berlin Wall. However, numerous photographic archives and tourist postcards from the first third of the 20th century allow us to rediscover the square as the artist saw it.
It’s not the largest square in what was then Berlin, but it is an important crossroads for the city. Several major roads…
