DDR - Perspectives on East Germany

Jarmo Mäkilä: Evening, 1978.

Jens Rötzsch: Leipzig 1987, from the series Turnfest

Rainer Fetting: Van Gogh on the Berlin Wall, 1983.

Gundula Schulze-Eldowy: Berlin. On a Dog´s Night, 1977-1990.

Tatjana Bergelt: Some body´s lover, 2008

The German Democratic Republic, DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), existed from 1949 to 1990. The state was created when the territory of Germany was divided between east and west, and was a consequence of the division of the occupied zones between the Allies in the wake of World War Two. Negotiations between the occupying forces concerning the future of Germany came to nothing, so the areas occupied by the Western nations were united into the Federal Republic of Germany, and the eastern area occupied by the Soviet Union became the DDR. Relations between east and west were cool and the DDR went down in history as the key arena of the Cold War.

The DDR became a kind of flagship for Eastern Europe and Socialism. It was held up as a leading country in technology, culture and sport. West Germany prospered, but the East German economy did not develop so rapidly. The wealthier and more liberated lifestyle attracted many East Germans, and a considerable number of people managed to get to the West through the divided city of Berlin. This process of migration ended in 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. The wall separated east from west until 1989.

This exhibition presents art from the period of the DDR that has something to say on the subject, items concerning the history and everyday life of the state told through text and objects. It tells stories of a state that exists no more, but whose influence is still evident throughout Europe.