As a politically committed chronicler, Jürgen Henschel (1923–2012) photographs protest culture, urban redevelopment and everyday life in West Berlin. The iconic photo of the dying Benno Ohnesorg is his most famous image.
Image gallery
Straßenszene in Schöneberg aus dem Jahr 1967. Im Hintergrund ist der Sportpalast zu sehen, der 1973 abgerissen wurde. Foto: Jürgen Henschel, Archiv Museen Tempelhof-Schöneberg
From 1967 onwards, Henschel worked as a press photographer for the magazine “The Truth” of the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin (SEW), which was financed and directed by the GDR state party SED. The SEW is present in Henschel's photos, but hardly plays a role in the political life of West Berlin.
The archive of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg Museums contains around 23,000 negatives by Jürgen Henschel, who is also known as the “Man with the Ladder”. To mark the photographer's 100th birthday, the Schöneberg Museum is showing 100 of his black and white photos from 1953 to 1990. They tell Berlin history and reflect the zeitgeist of the divided city.
