From the Margins to the Centre in the Blink of an Eye

Ever since planning for the Kulturforum got underway in the 1960s, great emphasis was placed on the fact that the geographical proximity to the Eastern sector of the city was also intended to help create a cultural connection with the Museumsinsel in years to come. It was an urban-planning project that extended over more than three decades. With the fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989, the topographic situation literally changed overnight. Suddenly, the Kulturforum was situated in the centre of Berlin. With the opening of the Gemäldegalerie (1998) and the launch of major exhibitions – such as the show Fontane and Visual Art, to mark 100 years since the death of Theodor Fontane – the Kulturforum established itself as an important player in the artistic and cultural life of a reunited Berlin.

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Peter Betthausen, Director Nationalgalerie SMB (East), on GDR artworks in the collection of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

© Deutschlandradio / Nofretete kehrt zurück: Die Wiedervereinigung der Berliner Museen (Sendung vom 24.01.1991 im Deutschlandfunk)
  1. Flyer for the exhibition "Carl Blechen. Zwischen Romantik und Realismus" at Neue Nationalgalerie in 1990.

    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Neue Nationalgalerie
  2. Flyer for the exhibition "Carl Blechen. Zwischen Romantik und Realismus" at Neue Nationalgalerie in 1990.

    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Neue Nationalgalerie
  1. Floorplan for the exhibition "Carl Blechen. Zwischen Romantik und Realismus" at Neue Nationalgalerie in 1990.

    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Neue Nationalgalerie
  2. Floorplan for the exhibition "Carl Blechen. Zwischen Romantik und Realismus" at Neue Nationalgalerie in 1990.

    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Neue Nationalgalerie
  1. View of the exhibition "Carl Blechen. Zwischen Romantik und Realismus" at the Neue Nationalgalerie in 1990. It is the first exhibition jointly produced by the two museum associations in east and west.

    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Zentralarchiv / Reinhard Friedrich
  2. View of the exhibition "Carl Blechen. Zwischen Romantik und Realismus" at the Neue Nationalgalerie in 1990. It is the first exhibition jointly produced by the two museum associations in east and west.

    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Zentralarchiv / Reinhard Friedrich

In front of the National Gallery in 2004, visitors wait to be admitted to the exhibition "MoMa in Berlin".

© Wikimedia Commons / Jochims (CC0 1.0)

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