The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now

17. July 202221. August 2024By The Game Staff

Impressions from Berlin photographers then & now. Exploring divergences and interrelationships of spatial and cultural evolutions of Berlin. Once a city of districts separated, some entanglements have lived on far past the Wall that was torn down in 1989.

Pairing Berlin archive with recent documentary photography, delve into some of the most compelling elements that make our capital city of Berlin sing. From districts that were once an environment for underground arts and political opposition becoming a landmark for gentrification and sought after real estate to architectural evolutions and cultural scenes living on throughout decades almost unchanged – discover the Berlin idiosyncrasies that contribute to the significance of our subcultures: the Berlin divisions in photos.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Prenzlauer Berg 1990 — Prenzlauer Berg. Top: IMAGO / Detlev Konnerth | Squatted house at Kastanienallee 86, Prenzlauer Berg, 1990. Bottom: IMAGO / Stefan Zeitz | U-Bahn Eberswalder Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, 2020.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Prenzlauer Berg 2021 — Prenzlauer Berg. Top: IMAGO / Detlev Konnerth | Squatted house at Kastanienallee 86, Prenzlauer Berg, 1990. Bottom: IMAGO / Stefan Zeitz | U-Bahn Eberswalder Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, 2020.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Prenzlauer Berg 1990 — Top: Prenzlauer Berg. IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner | Crossing Dimitroffstrasse, underground station, view towards Schoenhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Berg, 1988. Bottom: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | U-Bahn Eberswalder Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, 2021.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Kniepes. — Prenzlauer Berg. Top: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | A woman photographs the cherry blossom at Kiez am Kollwitzplatz, Rykestraße, Prenzlauer Berg, 2022. Bottom: IMAGO / Dieter Matthes | Passers-by talking on Rykestraße, 1990.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tempelhof Airport. — Kniepes. Top: IMAGO / F. Anthea Schaap | The Bierbrunnen at Gesundbrunnen, Wedding, 2022. Bottom: IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner | Zum Oranienburger, today the Meilenstein, Oranienburger Strasse, Berlin-Mitte, 1989.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tempelhof Airport. — Tempelhof Airport. Top: IMAGO / Christian Schroth | Check-in hall at Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, 2007. Bottom: IMAGO / serienlicht / View of the main hall and check-in stations, 1968.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Tempelhof Airport. Top: IMAGO / Frank Sorge | People look at a U S Air Force plane during an open day, 1990. Bottom: IMAGO / Peter Seyfferth | Staircase city side eastern hangar and radar tower, neo-classical former Berlin Tempelhof Airport, 2017.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Kneipes. Top: IMAGO / Rolf Kremming | Two young men play billiard in a punk pub in Kreuzberg-Berlin, 1983. Bottom: IMAGO / Jürgen Held | Kiezkneipe Bateau Ivre, before planned eviction on 8 June 2022.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Architecture. Top: IMAGO / blickwinkel | Partial view of the French Cathedral at the Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin-Mitte, 2022. Bottom: New buildings of Revaler Straße from Warschauer to Ostkreuz in Berlin-Friedrichshain, 2022.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Zoologischer Garten. Top: IMAGO / Stefan Zeitz | Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz Kurfürstendamm, 2021. Bottom: IMAGO / frontalvision.com | Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz Kurfürstendamm, 1969.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Punk, East Berlin. Top: IMAGO / Frank Sorge | Privately organised punk concert at Hirschhof, Oderberger Strasse, 1985. Bottom: IMAGO / Seeliger | Visitors and locals wonder down Oderberger Strasse, Prenzlauer Berg, 2020.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Tempelhof Airport. Top: Detail of the Airport Tempelhof in Berlin, 2007. Bottom: IMAGO / IPON | Inside the foyer of the Airport Tempelhof in Berlin, 2007.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Architecture. Top: IMAGO / Schöning | House of Statistics, Otto-Braun-Straße / Karl-Marx-Allee, Mitte, 2021. Bottom: IMAGO / agefotostock | Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin-Mitte, 2021.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Punks. Top: IMAGO / Photo12 / Ilse Ruppert | Punks posing in front of Lenin Statue on Lenin Platz, 1982. Bottom: IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner | Citizen protest GDR, banner of the peace movement in the Zion church, 1988.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Tempelhof Airport. Top: IMAGO / IPON | Tempelhof airport architecture by architect Ernst Sagebiel, 2007. Bottom: IMAGO / IPON | Tempelhof airport architecture by architect Ernst Sagebiel, 2007.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Zoologischer Garten. Top: IMAGO / serienlicht | Zoologischer garten Bahnhof, 1982. IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | Zoologischer garten Bahnhof, 2021.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Tempelhof Airport. Top: IMAGO / IPON | Reception hall of the central airport Tempelhof built between 1936 – 1941, Berlin-Tempelhof, 2007. Bottom: IMAGO / IPON | Empty office at the Airport Tempelhof in Berlin, 2007.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Tempelhof Airport. Top: IMAGO / Frank Sorge | People look at a U.S. Air Force plane during an open day at Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, 1990. Bottom: IMAGO / Frank Sorge | Hangars of the former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, 2020.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Architecture. Top: IMAGO / Wolfgang Maria Weber | Palace of the Republic, East Berlin, 1990. Bottom: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | French Cathedral and the German Cathedral behind the high-rises on Leipziger Strasse, 1988.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Architecture. Top: IMAGO / Christian Thiel | House of Statistics, Berlin-Mitte, 2021. Bottom: IMAGO / CHROMORANGE | Graffiti on a vacant apartment building in Berlin, 2020.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Architecture. Top: IMAGO / Oliver Vogler | Berlin landmark, The Oberbaumbrücke, connecting the districts of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Bottom: IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner | An entranced to the House of Statistics, 2020.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Prenzlauer Berg. Top: IMAGO / PEMAX | Occupied house in Kastanienallee, 1990. Bottom: IMAGO / Dieter Matthes | Dilapidated apartment buildings in Oderberger Straße, 1993.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Zoologischer Garten. Top: IMAGO / Detlev Konnerth | Behrensstraße behind Zoologischer Garten station in Berlin, 1991. Bottom: IMAGO / Ralph Peters | Modernisation work with scaffolding and construction site at Zoologischer Garten station, 1996.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Prenzlauer Berg. Top: IMAGO / PEMAX | Queues of people waiting outside the Alte Nationalgalerie, 2005. Bottom: IMAGO / Christian Thiel | Queues of people in front of an electronics shop, Kastanienallee, 1986.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Prenzlauer Berg. Top: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | Kiez am Kollwitzplatz Husemannstraße, 2022. Bottom: IMAGO / Christian Thiel | Woman with cat in backyard, 1988.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Punks v Churches. Top: IMAGO / epd | Songwriters, writers, actors and musicians hold a benefit concert in the Erlöserkirche, 1988. Bottom: IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner | Citizen protest GDR, the banner of the peace movement in the Zionskirche, 1988.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Zoologischer Garten. Top: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | Meeting place at Bahnhof Zoo in Berlin, 1992. Bottom: IMAGO / Steinach | Meeting place at Bahnhof Zoo in Berlin, 2007.

The Berlin Divisions in Photos: Tracing Cultural Shifts from the Wall to Now — Punk, East Berlin. Top: IMAGO / Photo12 | Punks from East Berlin posing in front of the Lenin Statue in Lenin Square (now United Nations Square), 1982. Bottom: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter | Gethsemane Church on Stargarder Straße, East Berlin, 2021.

Punk, East Berlin. Top: IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner | Celebration of 20 years of Hirschhof , a small green space between Oderberger Strasse and Kastanienallee, was established 20 years ago by the Oderberger Strasse citizens’ initiative, 2005. Bottom: IMAGO / Frank Sorge | Privately organised punk concert at Hirschhof, Oderberger Strasse.

Part of our month-long Diasporas & Dichotomy series.

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archive, Berlin, Berlin photographer, Berlin Wall, Documentary Photography, GDR, Germany, History, Prenzlauer Berg, Punks

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