MESSMER, Arwed - Anonymous Heart. Berlin

Background information

"The anonymous center of Berlin is that place which is considered to be the origin of Berlin: Cölln, the city which was first mentioned in a document in 1237. The bombs of the Second World War and the urban planning of the post-war period have left this place, which also includes the controversial Schlossplatz area with the Palace of the Republic, almost homeless between the streams of traffic. Here, the city is heading out in all directions.

Content

For the photo volume 'Anonymous Heart. Berlin', German photographer Arwed MESSMER has visited this magical place, which for him also includes the third city extension, the Friedrichswerder, again and again since 1995 and recorded the changes photographically - in color panoramas and individual images. He documented the demolition of the GDR Foreign Ministry, the conversion of the New Reichsbank, formerly the Central Committee of the SED, into the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic, the metamorphoses of the Palace of the Republic, the GDR buildings on Breite Strasse, Sperlingsgasse and Friedrichsgracht, the new development of Friedrichswerder and the archaeological excavations at Petriplatz.
The writer Annett Gröschner accompanied Arwed MESSMER on his journey around the center of Berlin with her essay on the history and present of the Anonymous Center, and the photo historian and curator Florian Ebner illuminates in his text the artistic work of Arwed MESSMER against the background of Berlin city photography, his photographic gaze, but also his specific, archaeological method of constellating his own and appropriated photographs." (© Verlag für Moderne Künst Nürnberg, 2009)

Additional information

The design of the illustrated book 'Anonyme Heart. Berlin' by Arwed MESSMER was designed by Carsten EISFELD.

About the German photographer, Arwed MESSMER (b. 1964)

Photo books by Arwed MESSMER

Photo books designed by Carsten EISFELD