Kulturgeschichte der Moderne in Berlin-Wilmersdorf – von der Carstenn-Figur bis in die Gegenwart
In 2023, the Leibniz Center for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL) moved into the ACHTUNDEINS office building in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, designed by architect Eike Becker. The surrounding neighborhood is of great cultural and historical importance. Numerous renowned authors, artists, and scientists have lived here since the end of the 19th century. Around 1870, the merchant and urban developer Johann Anton Wilhelm Carstenn designed a net-like figure that connects four squares (Prager, Nikolsburger, Nürnberger, and Fasanenplatz) that are symmetrically arranged around a central axis (today’s Bundesallee). Although the figure has survived, the city has constantly changed both above and below ground.
The architecture critic Michael Mönninger has told the history of the neighborhood from an urban planning perspective on the ZfL Blog. In an article for the FAZ, Detlev Schöttker was the first to outline the ways in which, starting from this comparatively small area, architecture (Johann Heinrich Strack, Fritz Bornemann, Gottfried Böhm), literature (Gerhard Hauptmann, Heinrich Mann, Mascha Kaléko), and art (Galerie Bremer, Georg Baselitz) have gained significance in the unfolding of modernism.
Questioning how urban buildings and spaces, neighborhoods and networks interact with the production of art and culture, this workshop aims to expand and deepen these approaches. Eike Becker, the architect of ACHTUNDEINS, will give the keynote lecture.
Admission is free, and no registration is required.
Fig. above: © Dirk Naguschewski
Program
Thursday, 24 Apr 2025
11.00
- Eva Geulen, Dirk Naguschewski, Detlev Schöttker: Welcome and introduction
- Andreas Ludwig: Kaiserallee – Bundesallee. Die Füllung des Raums
- Martin Germer: Von Z – Zum guten Hirten – bis A – Am Hohenzollernplatz. Sakralbauten rund um die beiden Carstenn-Figuren
14.00
- Christoph Hesse: Zwischen Wilmersdorf und Hollywood. Kinos im Kiez
- Michael Bienert: Die berühmteste Litfaßsäule Berlins und ihre Mediengeschichte
16.00
- Ulrich Borgert: Die Kunstschule von Johannes Itten in der Konstanzer Straße 14
19.00
- Eike Becker: Superferenz. Widersprüche und Konflikte als Gestaltungsmittel. Ein neues Haus in der Stadt
A slide show of historical postcards, photographs and archive material, compiled by Torsten Hauschild, will be shown alongside the presenations on both days.
Friday, 25 Apr 2025
9.30
- Christoph Jahr: Die ›jüdische Carstenn-Figur‹. Personen, Institutionen, Erinnerung
- Shira Miron: Kriegsverlust: Verlorene Söhne und Bücher zwischen Fasanenstraße und Bleibtreustraße (S.Y. Agnon und Saul Kaléko)
11.30
- Ernst Müller: Die einzige Buchhandlung im weiteren Umkreis«. Das Antiquariat Hugo Streisand
- Gert Eckel: Menschen, Häuser, Nachbarschaften. Lesung aus »Unter dem Regenbogen«
14.00
- Franziska Thun-Hohenstein: Die russische Moderne in Bewegung (rund um den Prager Platz)
- Nina Weller: »… bis später bei Wanda!« Künstlertreff und Aidshilfe in der Kleinen Philharmonie
16.00
- Susanne Bauer: ›Berlin außer SICHT‹: die Bamberger Straße 59 in Schöneberg
- Gerwin Zohlen: Ass, Whiskey and Cigars. Private Vergnügen der Autoren Brasch, Müller, Schneider etc.