In the 1970s, the graffiti scene, inspired by the burgeoning hip-hop movement, finally developed in the New York underground. Within a few months it became a gigantic wave that spilled over to Europe. The punks and hip-hop took streetart to their strongholds of London and Amsterdam, from where they arrived in West-Berlin.
View on newly erected houses at Stalinallee, Berlin-Friedrichshain, 1963
Wall frieze by Walter Womacka
House of the Teacher, Berlin-Mitte, 1965
Also in East-Berlin there were forms of street art, however, the artists were severely restricted in their freedom and had to be in strict compliance with mandated socialist realism as to be seen here on the wall frieze by Walter Womacka from the 1960s. Political slogans were also painted on houses and walls of East-Berlin but usually immediately removed by state security. The Berlin Wall initially only presents itself as a huge screen in West-Berlin, onto which political slogans, murals and later graffiti are painted and sprayed from the 1970s.
The dividing Wall of Berlin, 1961-1989
Wall frieze by Walter Womacka
House of the Teacher, Berlin-Mitte, 1965
In its beginnings streetart found many advocates. The Second World War had left many traces in Berlin in the form of firewalls and bomb blanks, which could be concealed by the murals. The politicians promoted the street art projects in West-Berlin with design programs and competitions like Kunst am Bau. Numerous artists brought different styles and techniques with them, the goal was an active intervention in the cityscape.
Ben Wagin, “World Tree”
Berlin-Tiergarten, 1977/2018
It all started with a moaning tree being surrounded by violent car exhausts. The environmental work Weltbaum (World Tree) by Ben Wagin was the first big mural realized at the Western part of Berlin in 1977. Due to construction works it can no longer be seen at its original place. Therefore, it was painted and reconstructed again in May 2018 at a suitable building in Lehrter Str.
Gert Neuhaus, “Zipper”
Berlin-Charlottenburg, 1979
Marilyn Green, Rainer Warzecha and Christoph Böhm
“Model Germany”, Berlin-Kreuzberg, 1981
Political slogans painted or sprayed on house walls have always been part of political movements, not only since the West-German squatter movement of the 1970s and 1980s, which makes intensive use of this means of expression. The squatter movement was especially strong and active in West-Berlin where many houses were unused, empty or in very bad condition.
House ruin at Winterfeldplatz
Berlin-Schöneberg, 1981
Mural on a squatted house
KuKuck, Berlin-Kreuzberg, 1982
The works created in West-Berlin in the 1970s and lateron by the squatter movement of the 1980s often had a political message – such as the “World Tree” by Ben Wagin or the now-defunct Mural “Model Germany” by Marilyn Green, Rainer Warzecha and Christoph Böhm. Illusion painting was also very popular. One example is the still existing gable “Zipper” by the artist Gert Neuhaus.
Sigurd Wendland, “Potsdamer Str. 1945”
WW II bunker, Berlin-Schöneberg, 1983
Harald Juch, “Chernobyl Disaster”
Berlin-Schöneberg, 1986
View on Kurfürstendamm
Berlin-Charlottenburg, 1987
Gert Neuhaus, “Phoenix”
Berlin-Charlottenburg, 1989
Illegal underground art existed by mutual agreement in addition to commissioned works, which were mostly awarded by housing associations. Sometimes the works also overlapped, often disappearing again. With the big political transitions starting in late 1989 a lot has changed in Berlin also in regard of urban art, but that’s still like that till today!
And last but not least on the premises you will find also the namegiver of the site, a beautiful forest lake called Domjüchsee.
Colorful wildness of the ruins, August 2019
View on St. Mary’s Church, 15th century, red brick Gothic style
Urban scenery near the market-place
