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Press Information Bourgeoisie, Swing and Molotov-Cocktails Amerika Haus Through the Ages

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Press Information Bourgeoisie, Swing and Molotov-Cocktails Amerika Haus Through the Ages Press Information Bourgeoisie, Swing and Molotov-Cocktails Amerika Haus through the ages Millions of Berlin residents sought information in the library or at the screenings. Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Willy Brandt visited. Eggs and Molotov cocktails were thrown at the building and it was secured with barbed wire. Lyonel Feininger, Robert Rauschenberg and Gordon Parks exhibited their works here – the Amerika Haus in Berlin is much more than just an architectural treasure from the 1950s. The changeful history of the twentieth century is reflected in the immediate vicinity. Until 1945, the area in the Hardenbergstraße accommodated a Prussian officer’s club, a wild amusement boulevard and gloomy exhibitions of National Socialist art. Following the Second World War, the light-flooded, filigree Amerika Haus was for 50 years a point of divergence for cultural and political discussions and international controversy between peaceful re-education, western propaganda and fervid anti-American senti- ments. In the exhibition showing historical photographs, C/O Berlin will for the first time document the location and its environment, which has undergone rapid changes over the last 150 years – a local urbanization that is also symbolic of the developments in Berlin as a whole. First came the animals – in 1844 the Zoologischer Garten (Berlin Zoological Garden) was opened at the edge of the Tiergarten park and initially extended as far as the Hardenbergstraße. In the 1870s, work began on the construction of the city railway and in 1884 the station Bahnhof Zoo was opened. This made the neighbourhood appealing for a wide range of different new user groups on a long-term basis. On the site where the Amerika Haus would later stand, a master builder and an investor built a baroque villa. In addition, the area was enhanced by middle-class amuse- ments such as a riding hall, a theme-based exhibition, a triumphal arch, panorama views and a skating rink. In 1899, modern art came to Charlottenburg. The art association “Berliner Secession”, which included Max Liebermann, Max Slevogt and Lovis Corinth, moved into a building next to what is today the Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West). After the First World War, the villa was sold to an officer’s association. The Hardenbergstraße did not remain just a residential street – it became livelier and more urban. Amusement, bars and night-life were the way of the future. In 1926, the officer association building was renamed and became a cabaret and dance venue, “Villa d’Este”. In the gol- den twenties, on the site where the Amerika Haus was later built, the Berlin residents danced to their heart’s content. In the 1940s, there was Nazi art instead of swing music and the “Berliner Kunsthalle” (Berlin Art Exhibition Hall) was built. At least ten exhibitions of Nazi art were held here – photography from Mussolini’s Italy, Croatian photographic art and large portraits of political greats from the Third Reich, taken by Hitler’s personal photographer Walter Frentz. At the end of the war, the villa d’Este was destroyed, together with the Kunsthalle. At the beginning of the 1950s, US allies discussed the idea of building Amerika Haus on this site – to intentionally provide a counterbalance to the location’s Nationalist Socialist past. Initially, Walter Gropius was to design it, however he withdrew due to financial disagreements. As a result, the contract was awarded to the Berlin architect Bruno Grimmek, who had already built the Marshall Haus by the trade fair. Since 1957, Amerika Haus has housed a library specializing in US literature and magazines and has offered an extensive cultural program including films, theatre, English courses and concerts. In the beginning, it was also a place for the re-education of the Germans during the time of the Berlin wall, and an institution for anti-communist propaganda, and since the 1970s it has increasingly become an ordinary, regionally- orientated cultural centre. At the end of the 1950s, Amerika Haus attracted more public attention, as the protests against the “American Im- perialism” began here with demonstrations by the FDJ (Freie Deutsche Jugend, an organization for teenagers in the GDR). In 1966, the first anti-Vietnam demonstration headed for the building. For the first time, eggs were thrown at the façade – at later demonstrations it was stones and incendiary devices. The student demonstrations were followed by letters of apology by the rector of the Freie Universität to the US citizens and counter-demonstrations by the CDU. In the course of the anti-American protests since the 1960s and following the terror attacks on 11th September, Amerika Haus closed itself off more and more, becoming a fortress. US institutions increased their security measures to such an extent that only invited guests could visit the building – behind high fences, with rolling grilles in front of the windows and security doors. At the latest when the new American embassy opened at Brandenburger Tor and the ownership of the property was transferred to the state of Berlin in 2006, Amerika Haus fell into a deep slumber. C/O Berlin Foundation . Hardenbergstraße 22–24 . 10623 Berlin . Telefon +49.30.28 44 41 60 . Telefax +49.30.28 44 41 619 . [email protected] . www.co-berlin.org Information and Dates Amerika Haus is currently being carefully renovated. The opening of the building is planned for spring 2014. C/O Berlin will present the first exhibitions as early as summer 2013 – while the building is still being refurbished. However, not in the Amerika Haus building itself, but open-air, in front of the building. 24 hours a day, seven days per week and accessible to everyone free of charge. In the upcoming months, on a large number of columns, C/O Berlin will present photographs that deal with the theme of the new location, the surrounding environment and the neighbours – a visual intermezzo that will last until the building is reopened. The exhibition includes approximately 120 historical and contemporary photographs. It was initiated by C/O Berlin and curated by Dr. Hans Georg Hiller von Gaertringen. Open-air exhibition Bourgeoisie, Swing and Molotov Cocktails The Amerika Haus through the ages Exhibition 13 July to 15 September 2013 Opening Friday, 12 July 2013, 7pm Press conference Friday, 12 July 2013,11 am Opening hours daily . 24 hours Admission free Location C/O Berlin in front of the Amerika Haus Hardenbergstraße 22-24 . 10623 Berlin www.co-berlin.org Event organiser C/O Berlin Foundation Press contact Mirko Nowak Telephone 030.28 44 41 60 . [email protected] www.co-berlin.org Partner Supporter C/O Berlin Foundation . Hardenbergstraße 22–24 . 10623 Berlin . Telefon +49.30.28 44 41 60 . Telefax +49.30.28 44 41 619 . [email protected] . www.co-berlin.org Press images 01 04 02 05 03 06 C/O Berlin Foundation . Hardenbergstraße 22–24 . 10623 Berlin . Telefon +49.30.28 44 41 60 . Telefax +49.30.28 44 41 619 . [email protected] . www.co-berlin.org 07 09 08 All images except 01 & 04 © Alliierten Museum Berlin Image 06 © Alliierten Museum Berlin / Pressebild 10 Schubert 01 Waldemar Titzenthaler, Zoo station, 1898 02 Construction site Amerika Haus, 1956 03 The director of the music program of the Amerika-Haus, the composer and music theorist Dr. Dietrich Manicke, presents listening booths for records with two assistants, 1957 04 Cover of the radical left-wing magazine “Agit 883”, issue 60, 1970 05 “Book- mobile” in front of the new Amerika Haus, 1952 06 Willy Brandt speaks at the exhibition opening of the history of the US-Armee, 1964 07 Amerika Haus, view from above, 1957 08 Recording of radio show “Spaß muß sein. Quiz, Musik und gute Laune” with Hans Rosenthal, 1971 09 The 298th Army Band plays for the waiting crowd, 5th June 1975 10 Performance “Cry of the Thunderbird”, 19th September 1959 Print media may publish up to three images, online media only after permission. The images may only be used once and during the exhibition. The images may not be modified, cut nor otherwise be altered. The correct titles must always be mentioned. C/O Berlin and the exhibition have to be mentioned in case of publication. C/O Berlin Foundation . Hardenbergstraße 22–24 . 10623 Berlin . Telefon +49.30.28 44 41 60 . Telefax +49.30.28 44 41 619 . [email protected] . www.co-berlin.org Amerika-Haus institutions around the world Dr. Hans Georg Hiller von Gaertringen The Amerika Haus institutions have been a central element of the US foreign policy since World War II. As “U.S. Infor- mation Centers” they have been set up in almost all non-communist countries around the world—from Argentina to Taiwan. In Germany they were founded almost straight after 1945 by the occupying forces as public libraries. How- ever, the Amerika Haus institutions soon became more than just a place where visitors could immerse themselves in U.S. reading material. Exhibitions and films were shown, lectures were held and concerts were given. In this way, a concept of a US cultural institution was created that was open to everyone. The initial intention of the Amerika Haus institutions was above all to support the so-called re-education and help free the Germans from the ideological demon of the Nazi era. The main target groups were teachers and students, white- collar workers and entrepreneurs—in short: all those who call the shots in social debates. The idea was that the Ger- mans should learn that democracy is better than dictatorship, freedom better than belief in authority and individuality better than Volksgemeinschaft (ethnic community). At the same time the aim was that they would become familiar with the culture of the new allies, the culture of the United States.
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