Until March 29, the Hamburger Bahnhof presents its new concept as a museum for contemporary art. The presentation comprises three interconnected program strands: “National Gallery: A Collection for the 21st Century” is dedicated to the Berlin art scene from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present day; the “Forum Hamburger Bahnhof” is a free meeting space that brings the museum’s multifaceted history to life; and the “Endless Exhibition” presents site-specific artworks in and around the museum in a new circular tour. The reopening of the Hamburger Bahnhof will be celebrated with a three-day open house. All exhibitions and programs are free of charge from June 16 to 18. With this gesture, the museum wishes to thank the public for securing the long-term preservation of the site and for the purchase of the buildings.
Image above: Holly Zausner, Second Breath, 2005, Super 16 mm-Film, digitized, color, sound, 10:16 Min., 2005 acquired with the support of the Friends of the Nationalgalerie Association. © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
A new chapter begins for the Hamburger Bahnhof, and the National Gallery of Contemporary Art opens its doors for new collection presentations. At the same time, the building’s new visual identity and architectural concept are being unveiled. Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof, stated: “With this relaunch, the Hamburger Bahnhof underscores its role as a national gallery for contemporary art and as a collaborative collecting institution in the heart of Berlin. Located directly on the former Berlin Wall, which divided the city into East and West for decades, we feel a responsibility to bring diverse voices together for open dialogue. We are particularly pleased to be able to offer the public a wide range of programs that are accessible and free of charge.”
The city of Berlin and its dynamic developments from the years shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to the present day are the focus of this exhibition. The selected works by 59 artists, including paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographs, installations, sound and video works, explore the complex interplay of socio-political and economic factors in the formerly divided city.
The themes include reunification, historical amnesia, and architectural transformation; unemployment, real estate speculation, and gentrification; colonialism, nationalism, migration, and diversification; resistance, political participation, and polyphony. The loosely chronologically interwoven positions reflect images and narratives, artistic practices and attitudes that originated and continue to originate here, evolve here, and spread from here worldwide. Together, they explore what it means to be, live, and feel in Berlin.
The exhibition brings together several generations from different parts of the world. Among the featured artists are Sibylle Bergemann, Rainer Fetting, Rebecca Horn, Isa Genzken, Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano, Mona Hatoum, Emeka Ogboh, Anri Sala, Selma Selman, Isaac Chong Wai, Carrie Mae Weems, and Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt. Various collections also converge in the space: For the first time, the Hamburger Bahnhof’s extensive holdings of contemporary art enter into a long-term exchange with two outstanding public collections: the Federal Art Collection and the collection of the ifa – Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations. In closely interwoven constellations, familiar collection highlights appear side by side with rarely exhibited works. Nineteen works will be acquired permanently for the museum’s collection in connection with this presentation.
The exhibition unfolds narratively and dialogically within the architecture designed by Belgian architect Olivier Goethals, spanning the two floors of the west wing. The narrative begins on the upper floor with the first of many evocative juxtapositions: black-and-white still lifes by Manfred Paul, offering an atmospheric glimpse into the private apartments of people living in the East Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg in the mid-1980s, encounter a window sculpture by Isa Genzken, the photo film “Lange Weile” (Long Boredom) by Tina Bara, and typewritings by Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, all of which explore the confinement, the socio-political stagnation, and the threshold between a physical and metaphysical here and there. Further along the exhibition route on the first floor, works by Sigmar Polke and Rachel Whiteread meet, each addressing the social and economic upheaval following the collapse of the bipolar world order in different ways, while works by Sophie Calle and Franz Ackermann explore the rapid architectural transformation of Berlin in the years after reunification. Annette Frick, Georg Herold, Daniel Richter, and Flaka Haliti examine the open, exuberant, and hedonistic aspects of the city and its cultural landscape, while artists like Mona Hatoum, whose bunker sculptures mark the beginning of the exhibition on the lower floor, address the continuing impact of traumatic experiences on the lives of many of those who converge in the diverse metropolis of Berlin. Around Joseph Beuys’s heat sculpture “Unschlitt/Tallow,” which is integrated as a permanent installation into the “Endless Exhibition,” works by Isaac Chong Wai, Haegue Yang, Alicja Kwade, Nairy Baghramian, Emeka Ogboh, and Selma Selman enter into a multifaceted dialogue about vulnerability and resistance, cold and warmth, fallibility and confidence. The exhibition ends as it begins: with a life-affirming cherry blossom by Petrit Halilaj and Álvaro Urbano—a loving monument to affection and togetherness, care and intimacy. Curated by Sam Bardaouil, Director of Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art, and Catherine Nichols, Curator at Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art.
WHEN?
Until 29. March 2026
WHERE?
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
Invalidenstraße 50
10557 Berlin
