Under Trees. The Germans and the Forest

An exhibition of the German Historical Museum
The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection supports the project with start-up funding
Curators: Ursula Breymayer, Elke Kupschinsky, Dr. Bernd Ulrich, Andreas Bernhard

Around 30 percent of the entire surface area of Germany is covered by woods. Today the forest presents itself to observers as a mixture of economic and recreational areas; it serves as a source of lumber and as hunting grounds, provides fitness trails and practice areas for horseback riders and mountain bikers, attracts mushroom gatherers and is simply a place for leisure and relaxation. The forest is a constantly changing cultural landscape, formed by man, a product of sustainable forestry and modern recreational activities. Yet for us the forest still seems to represent the ideal image of Nature, an organically grown, immutable counterworld to civilization, as it were. The woods and trees possess great symbolic power; they were and still are the subject of poetry, art and music and can embody both ideals and ideologies. For many people a decorated fir tree continues to be the indispensable centrepiece of the "German Christmas", and the gnarled oak is considered the prototype of the German mentality both at home and abroad. When the woods appear to be in danger, when a forest area is to be cleared, Germans go on the warpath.

This is of course only a partial sketch of possible relations between man and woods. But it is enough to shed light on the cultural-historical approach of the planned exhibition: our image of the woods is a forest construct marked by aesthetic, social, national and economical values. We run into it in the artfully crafted inlays on the butts of hunting rifles of the 17th century no less so than on postcards of the late 19th century, where the forest serves as a backdrop for the touristic experiencing of Nature.

This gradual transformation of the woods into an imaginative projection surface for artistic, moral-educational and political-ideological concepts is to be brought to light without neglecting the "real" forest as a natural area. In the exhibition the forest will therefore also be seen as an economic factor for the provision of timber and other products as well as in its significance as the object of romantic nostalgia in an increasingly bourgeois society, as the embodiment of national identity, and as the subject of the "Waldsterben" debate of the 1980s, which failed to convince many of Germany's European neighbours that the woods were actually dying.

Internationally renowned experts from the areas of history, art, culture, environment, forestry and ethnology will discuss these topics at length in a richly illustrated volume of essays.

German History
in Images and Artefacts from Two Millenia

An exhibition hosted by the German Historical Museum (DHM)
Contact: Dr. Sabine Beneke

The show offers a sweeping survey of two thousand years of German history and opens a new chapter in the museum’s own history. Eight thousand selected exhibits from the Museum’s own collections, many of them unique historical artefacts, will convey a lively and attractive impression of events past.

The exhibition covers 7,500 m² and is divided into two parts. The period from the first century AD to the abdication of the Kaiser in 1918 is presented on the first floor, while the ground floor houses the sections relating to the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, the Cold War period and the two German states up to the withdrawal of the Allies in 1994.
The exhibits are objects of significance from almost all fields of the historical legacy: documents, paintings and other works of art, books, posters, textiles, furniture, machines and a wide variety of everyday objects, to name but a few. In the methodology of the permanent exhibition these exhibits serve as more than mere illustrations of the historical events. They are presented, explained and placed in their wider context as pieces of history in their own right, focusing on their specific character as historical evidence. This approach produces a unique form of reconstruction of historical relationships and processes, one that speaks directly to the viewer. Rather than presenting a German-centred view, the exhibition consistently places German history in its European context, giving consideration to the many different forms of exchange and political and cultural networking with neighbouring states.

Numerous multimedia elements, models and educational stations deepen and expand the wealth of information on offer.

Frederick the Great – respected, revered, reviled …

An exhibition of the German Historical Museum
Curators: Dr. Leonore Koschnick, Dr. des Thomas Weißbrich

Frederick the Great – Friedrich II – (1712-1786) is one of the most distinctive figures in German history and remembrance culture. It is above all the image of “Old Fritz” that has marked the German collective memory up until the present day. In the year 2012 the German Historical Museum is taking the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Prussian King as the occasion for an exhibition that examines his legacy in art, politics and historiography.

In the more than 200 years since the death of Friedrich II, his life has been subject not only to very different evaluations on the part of historians, but has been repeatedly used as a point of reference for political interests. In the Vormärz period leading up to the Revolution of 1848, liberals saw in him the enlightened ruler, while for conservatives he embodied Prussian virtues. In the German Empire he rose to the role of German national idol, under the Weimar Republic he was considered the representative of old values and strict order, and World War II propaganda stylized him as the unfaltering victor on the battlefield. After 1945 the Prussian King was at first reviled in the Federal Republic and the GDR as a warmonger, while public interest later began focusing on his intellectual and artistic qualities.

The German Historical Museum is presenting these chapters in the legacy of Frederick the Great on a surface area of some 1000 square meters. Around 600 objects in thirteen thematically arranged rooms will illustrate the various facets of the way Germany has dealt with Young and Old Fritz over the years. The Museum’s collections hold a vast treasure of objects on the history of the reception of Friedrich II, many of which will be displayed for the first time on this occasion. They will be supplemented by loans from home and abroad. This anniversary show on Friedrich’s 300th birthday will not be retelling his legends, but rather shedding light on their genesis and on the various ways history and politics have staged the Prussian King.

30th Council of Europe Art Exhibition

Critique and Crisis. Art in Europe since 1945

An exhibition of the German Historical Museum
Curator: Prof. Dr. Monika Flacke

The exhibition “Critique and Crisis” is an initial attempt to take a look at European art since 1945 without the usual ideological demarcation lines that came about with the Cold War. Twelve chapters will examine the different ways in which artists have dealt with the ideals of Enlightenment and the belief in universal human rights, freedom, equality and democracy. Selected works will be seen within the framework of the project as visual expressions of ideas and concepts that have the potential to change the world. The artworks come from almost all of the European countries – from Portugal to Russia, from Scotland to Albania and Greece. Thus the exhibition also taps into the art of often neglected regions of Europe and in this way overcomes the separation of art into East and West, North and South, which has been a common practice since the Cold War. National background of the artists, chronologies and artistic schools do not play a role.

The exhibition is the centrepiece of an international cooperation, coordinated by the German Historical Museum, in which ten museums, galleries, research and cultural institutes from Germany, Poland, Estonia, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Greek, Schweden and Hungary are participating. Besides the exhibition, which will travel from Berlin to Warsaw, Tallinn and Milan, further individual aspects will be presented in smaller satellite exhibitions as well as in the context of workshops and conferences.

Accompanying the exhibition will be an extensive catalogue as well as a bilingual German-English publication that will most likely also be translated into the languages of the exhibition’s further stations. An interactive website dealing with the project as a whole and a closing conference will round off the wide range of individual projects.