Another Berlin tip: Underground Architecture – Berlin Metro Stations

Plain and functional elegance, colourful Pop Art, a historical cathedral flavour – the metro stations built in Berlin between 1953 and 1994 with their distinctive post-war and post-modernist feel are still a defining feature in the daily lives of Berlin’s residents. Once threatenedby radical revamps, 27 of these 82 undergound structures are now listed monuments, thanks to a dedicated younger generation of academics, photographers and film-makers.

Chris M Forsyth, Richard-Wagner-Platz
2016, Berlinische Galerie
© Chris M Forsyth

The Berlinische Galerie welcomes this opportunity for a début presentation of selected underground stations, including the story of their genesis and the architectural concepts at play. Against the backdrop of a divided city and the two separate German states founded in 1949, the stations Tierpark, Schloßstraße and Rathaus Spandau serve to illustrate how Berlin’s unique role as a theatre of enduring East-West conflict affected even metro design. 100 square metres of the permanent display are devoted to some 60 exhibits illustrating the formal diversity  acquired by Berlin’s metro architecture over time and the cultural potential of these sites o fidentification.

Bruno Grimmek, Holzhauser Straße
um 1957, Berlinische Galerie
© Rudolf Foto-Kessler

Architects and photographers: Chris M. Forsyth (*1995), Bruno Grimmek (1902–1969),
Rainer G. Rümmler (1929–2004), Ralf Schüler (1930–2011) and Ursulina Schüler-Witte (*1933)

Academic experts: Ralf Liptau, Verena Pfeiffer-Kloss and Frank Schmitz (Initiative Kerberos)

In partnership with Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), the BVG History Archives, Initiative Kerberos, Landesarchiv Berlin, the Berlin Monument Authority, Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. With the generous support of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

The international conference “Underground Architecture Revisited” will take place at theBerlinische Galerie on 20–23 February 2019 in conjunction with this exhibition. More details at: https://www.berlin.de/landesdenkmalamt/