Doesn’t Berlin have more sculptures than any other German city? This is the Orje Sculpture. Berlin is basically an outdoor museum, a gigantic open-air gallery. Sculptors, architects, creatives, and contemporary artists have shaped urban space here.
Art in Berlin is brutal and poetic. It is modern and historical. It mirrors the ideals and values of this constantly reinventing metropolis. Berlin was an imperial city. It was the GDR capital versus the showcase of the West. Now it is the reunited capital of the present.
Let’s talk about the historical context. Art in urban space has always been a balancing act in Berlin. It is important to preserve what is historically valuable. It is also crucial to create space for new ideas. That’s why you see Wilhelminian stucco facades next to colorful street art. Sculptures from the imperial era look down on memorials. Monuments recall the city’s darker days. You can see monuments of industrial architecture next to contemporary works of art.
Consider the East versus West dynamic. Right next to the Nikolaikirche, a bear towers six meters above an octagonal fountain basin. This Gründungsbrunnen was built to celebrate Berlin’s 750th anniversary in 1987. It is part of the reconstruction of the Nikolaiviertel. The Nikolaiviertel was almost completely destroyed in the Second World War. The West countered this historical project of the East. They implemented a modern sculpture boulevard along Kurfürstendamm. This triggered a culture war.
Artist Wolf Vostell even received death threats. This was for his two Cadillacs set in concrete on Rathenau-Platz. Today, this controversial work is part of the cityscape. It’s like the wall mosaics from the GDR era. It’s like the imperial monuments and marble statues.
On a walk along Unter den Linden and in Berlin’s Mitte district, you will see impressive equestrian statues. In front of the Old Palace, the bronze Alte Fritz sits on his horse Condé. Friedrich der Große built the magnificent buildings of the Forum Fridericanum. This stretches from the statue to the palace bridge. You will also encounter Alexander von Humboldt and Heinrich Heine.
Walk across the Schlossbrücke. It is lined with Greek deities. Continue through the Lustgarten to the Altes Museum. Architect Schinkel created one of the most important works of German classicism here. An Amazonian woman fights a panther. The horse of the young lion fighter neighs in pain. It is hit by the paw.
Through the colonnade courtyard and sculpture garden, you will reach the Alte Nationalgalerie. Prussia’s romantic king, Frederick William IV, is enthroned on his steed. Continue your walk and you will come across another rider in the Nikolaiviertel. It is St. George and the Dragon by August Kiss.
In Tiergarten, you will see composer Richard Wagner and Prussia’s most beautiful queen, Louise of Prussia. Frederick II already sent Berliners “up to the dolls” in the 18th century. This is what Berliners called the statues of the gods. Old Fritz had erected them at the Victory Column. The beautiful Louise found her final resting place in the mausoleum in the park of Charlottenburg Palace.
Even more monumental than the equestrian statues are the two Soviet memorials. One is in Treptower Park. The other is on the Straße des 17. Juni, near the Brandenburg Gate. Young artists created some 20 sculptures here. This was in protest against the construction of the Wall. These have grown into the greenery of the Tiergarten.
If you walk from the Kulturforum towards Potsdamer Platz, you will see Olafur Eliasson’s Windspiegelwand glittering. It is on the facade of the GIZ building. Depending on the wind and weather, the mirrors reflect clouds, sky, and trees. Not far away on Potsdamer Straße are the blue and red Boxers by Keith Haring. There is also the steel object “Galileo” by Mark di Suvero.
Memorials and monuments are important elements of Berlin’s cityscape. Peter Eisenmann’s field of stelae is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Traces can be found everywhere. “Voids” illustrate fates interrupted by violence and deportation.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt is another exciting place to discover art. In the water basin, Henry Moore’s bronze “Butterfly” is a fitting counterpart. It complements the curved architecture of the Pregnant Oyster. The sculpture by Eduardo Chillida is a symbol of German reunification. It stands in front of the Federal Chancellery.