Art in Berlin
1880 – 1980

A century of art
on the move

When the German territories joined into a Reich in 1871 and Berlin became its capital, this was a provincial town in a rural setting. The art scene was likewise provincial and conservative. Things started to change in 1899 when the Berlin Secession was founded. It was an association of artists from various avant-garde movements who came together to exhibit. Now even Berlin was open to the triumphal march of modernism. A walk around our permanent exhibition tells the story of the city’s artistic upheaval: starting with early modernism around 1900, then on through Expressionism, the East European avant-garde of the 1920s, New Objectivity, art under the Nazi dictatorship, the new dawn after 1945, post-war modernism and art in the crossfire of the Cold War, down to the rebellious mood of the 1960s and 1970s when the Wall still divided the city into East and West. There are about 250 works on show here: paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, photographs, architecture and plenty of archive material.

Tactile models of selected works and a museum app enable visitors to use all their senses as they explore the Presentation from Our Collection. Tactile floor markings guide the blind and visually impaired independently through the permanent exhibition.