Current Exhibitions

The year 2019 is marked by many important celebrations, including the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus and the first German democratic constitution. A special historical and social constellation after the end of the First World War and up to the Nazi seizure of power afforded fertile ground for new avant-garde styles in the Weimar Republic: Futurism, Dadaism, New Objectivity and Expressionism, which influenced not only the visual arts but also literature, music, theatre and film. The new mass medium soon won over the audience, for cinema provided a welcome distraction from the political crises and worries of everyday life. During the Weimar Republic, German film flourished: the productions of German film studios enjoyed great popularity, thanks not least to the work of film architects. Their masterly realised set designs were first created on paper: the Museum of Architectural Drawing now shows designs by Emil Hasler, Robert Herlth, Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Hans Poelzig, Franz Schroedter and Hermann Warm for The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The Golem: How He Came into the World, Metropolis, The Nibelungs, The Blue Angel and other masterpieces of the time.

The exhibition is based on loans from the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin, the Deutsches Filminstituts & Filmmuseum in Frankfurt am Main and the Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität Berlin.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.

Image: Erich Kettelhut. Metropolis, View of the city from above with Babel tower, mixed media on paper, highlightened in white, 45,4 x 52,5 cm © Deutsche Kinemathek – Erich Kettelhut Archiv