Time Travel in the Old Tiergarten District

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  Modegraphik aus STYL 1922, „In der Lennéstraße“, Detail, Mantelkleider vom Modehaus Hammer, Lennéstraße 2. Zeichnung R.L. Leonard

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  Blick vom Landwehrkanal in die Matthäikirchstraße, im Hintergrund die Kirche St. Matthäus, Aufnahme 1930er Jahre

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  Schauspielerin und Cassirer-Gattin Tilla Durieux, eine der meistportraitierten Frauen des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts, 1921

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  Das Haus Matthäikirchstraße 4, heute Piazzetta des Kulturforums

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  Zeitreise ins alte Tiergartenviertel

A freely accessible presentation by the art library commemorates the creative, art-loving residents around Matthäikirchplatz 100 years ago. Pictures and texts on the life and work of former famous residents tell of a glamorous era that was brutally ended by the Nazi state in 1933.
Today, museums, libraries and the Philharmonie form a unique architectural ensemble of modernism at the Kulturforum - soon to be complemented by the "berlin modern" museum of 20th century art, which is currently under construction. Only very few people know that today's Kulturforum was already a forum for culture and the dawn of modernity 100 years ago. However, things looked very different back then: The Tiergarten district was one of Berlin's most elegant residential and business quarters. Wealthy entrepreneurs, cultural figures and intellectuals lived in magnificent houses around the Matthäikirche church. What united them all was their passion for art, literature, music and fashion.
The Art Library, which is intensively researching this sunken Atlantis of modernity, invites you on a fascinating journey through time to the past of the Kulturforum. All at once, memories of long-forgotten people who lived for the arts and with the arts, and to whose passion we owe much to this day, are brought back to life. With this presentation, the Art Library is responding to the great public response to its lecture series "Art History(s) of the Tiergarten Quarter", which will continue in 2025. In this series, academics from a wide range of disciplines present their current research on the history of the area.
The Tiergarten district - a forgotten world
Since the 1860s, the Tiergarten district was considered one of Berlin's most beautiful neighborhoods. From a place of "summer retreat", with summer houses and huge gardens, it soon developed into a sought-after residential area. In the 1910s and 1920s, the district was the "place to be" for artists and art dealers, interior designers, fashion designers and photographers. After the radical break caused by the National Socialist era, wartime destruction and demolitions in the post-war period, hardly any of its former glory remained. Today, the district is a myth. Of more than 529 ensembles of houses, only 17 remain.
The Kulturforum: a forum for the international arts even 100 years ago
The presentation focuses on the glamorous era of the Tiergarten district at the beginning of the 20th century, when the district and its cultural networks developed into a center of modernism, art collecting, the art trade, fashion, photography and interior design. Even 100 years ago, the area around St. Matthew's Church was a "cultural forum".
The narrative thread is based on selected protagonists who contributed to the district's splendor in very different ways: Fashion journalist Julie Elias invited artist friend Max Liebermann and many other prominent guests to a dinner and "tango cocktail" on Matthäikirchplatz. Julius Elias and gallery owner Paul Cassirer got the neighborhood excited about Van Gogh and the French Impressionists. Eduard and Johanna Arnhold, Oscar Huldschinsky and many other art collectors transformed their private homes into museums for masterpieces from all eras. Interior designers such as Leni Michels-Fougner and Paul Huldschinsky designed living and reception rooms, and fashion designer Erna Becker created Marlene Dietrich's outfits. Not to be forgotten: the chronicler of the Tiergarten, Julie Elias, whose reports give us an insight into the creative haute couture scene in Berlin at the time.
The past of the Tiergarten district and the future of the Kulturforum
This unique cultural heyday with its art-loving networks ended in 1933 with the disenfranchisement, robbery and murder of many residents who were persecuted as Jews or democrats. The neighborhood was largely destroyed during the Second World War and the memory of the formerly prominent residents, their extraordinary art collections and creative achievements was erased.
With this presentation, the Kunstbibliothek is preparing for the future of the Kulturforum site, as the new "berlin modern" building will house an exhibition platform for the Kunstbibliothek's museum collections on graphic design, architecture, design, photography, book and media art. The history of the Tiergarten district as a hot spot of European modernism will play an important role in this branch.

The project "Art History(s) of the Tiergarten Quarter" was funded in 2022/23 by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM). Scientific team: Dr. Gesa Kessemeier, Dr. Joachim Brand
A presentation of the Kunstbibliothek - Staatliche Museen zu BerlinTranslated with DeepL

Runtime: Fri, 16/05/2025 to Sun, 31/12/2028

Takes place here:

• Kulturforum - Kunstbibliothek