Ruin and Rush

These decades – marked by the First World War and the Weimar Republic – constantly oscillated between opposites: Excess and poverty, emancipation and extremism went hand in hand in the rapidly growing, cosmopolitan metropolis. With around 45 works representing various stylistic directions, the exhibition brings to life the ambivalence of glamour and misery, rise and fall in Berlin between 1910 and 1930.


At the beginning of the 20th century, in the wake of industrialization, Berlin developed into not only an economic center but, above all, a political and cultural hub. Numerous innovations in construction and transportation were accompanied by social upheavals such as democratization and women's emancipation.


However, the trauma of the First World War and the rise of National Socialism overshadowed the so-called “Golden Twenties”. The metropolis, already mythologized by contemporary voices as “Babylon”, was in turmoil on many levels: commercial abundance and excess stood in stark contrast to growing poverty and unemployment.

The exhibition traces Berlin’s polarized metropolitan life between 1910 and 1930 across three sections. After initially focusing on the dynamism of the growing metropolis in terms of architecture, traffic, and lavish nightlife, the second section is dedicated to the social abysses that defined the lives of the working class. The final chapter of the exhibition focuses on urban women, reflecting on their desire for freedom, emancipation and queer life, as well as prostitution. The polyphony of the interwar period in Berlin is fanned out through works of various styles, including Expressionism, Dadaism, and New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit).

The exhibition includes key works from the collection of the Neue Nationalgalerie such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Potsdamer Platz (1914), George Grosz's Grauer Tag (Gray Day, 1921) and Lotte Laserstein's Abend über Potsdam (Evening over Potsdam, 1930). The collection's focus on paintings and sculptures is enriched by paper works and objects from the neighboring museums at Berlin's Kulturforum, the Kupferstichkabinett, the Kunstbibliothek, and the Kunstgewerbemuseum. A special loan complements the exhibition as a standout key work of the 1920s: Otto Dix's Bildnis der Tänzerin Anita Berber (Portrait of the Dancer Anita Berber, 1925) from the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg collection at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart.


Curators: Uta Caspary, Irina Hiebert GrunCuratorial Assistant: Noor van RooijenProject Management: Anna ViehoffConservation: Hana Streicher Communications: Markus Farr, Maribel Nicolás CabelloEducation and Outreach: Felicitas Fritsche-Reyrink

A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin