The Berlin of the 1990s was a city in profound transformation. It was caught between its fractured past and the possibilities of the future. Whilst Germany was consolidating its position as Europe’s economic powerhouse, Berlin, in the euphoric aftermath of reunification, was searching for its own identity. C/O Berlin presents more than 200 works from OSTKREUZ, a photography agency founded in East Berlin in 1990. Harald Hauswald’s image stands out. It depicts suited, baldheaded men surveying a skyline that is bristling with cranes, exemplifying the rampant redevelopment sweeping through the city.
Elsewhere, we see youth movements carving out spaces to dance in post-industrial wastelands. There are spiky-haired ravers, coats tied around their waists, dancing in the Love Parade and spilling out of iconic clubs like Tresor. The exhibition takes its historical context seriously, with long wall texts providing political and social background. After the decision to reinstate the city as Germany’s capital in 1990, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Reichstag (1995) took on an immense symbolic resonance. In Annette Hauschild’s image of the young dancing revellers, you almost don’t see the fabric-draped parliament building, shimmering in the background, like a strange fairytale castle.
Yet, the sense of optimism is shadowed by darker realities. Ute Mahler’s series, documenting a neo-Nazi father in Lichtenberg, shows him teaching his children the Nazi salute and casually pointing a gun out of a window. A video upstairs delves into the tensions of reunification, with Mahler reflecting on how East Germans were often left unemployed, disillusioned and penniless. The unresolved divide between East and West Berlin weaves through the exhibition, painting a portrait of a city wrestling with deep and often irreconcilable tensions. Amid these complexities, the exhibition never loses sight of the human experience, capturing moments that reflect both lingering divisions and poignant connection.
Words: Duncan Ballantyne-Way
C/O Berlin | Until 22 January
co-berlin.org
Image Credits:
1. Annette Hauschild, Wrapped Reichstag, the final night, Berlin, 1995 © Annette Hauschild/OSTKREUZ. For the wrapped Reichstag: Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95 © Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2024.
2. Sibylle Bergemann, Fallow land by the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, 1990 © Estate Sibylle Bergemann/OSTKREUZ
3. Anne Schönharting, Techno 2000 © Anne Schönharting/OSTKREUZ
4. Werner Mahler, Fall of the Wall, Berlin, 1989, from the series „November 9, 1989“ © Werner Mahler/OSTKREUZ
