For Free: Communist-Era Mural in East Berlin
Visitors to East Berlin often admire the Socialist murals that adorn the walls of many buildings, depicting scenes of industrious workers proudly advancing their society. Now, one lucky Ostaglia fan can take such a mural home with them to assemble on their own wall – for free.
The city of Berlin is giving away two classic DDR-era murals. They are attached to the sides of government-owned buildings which are due to be demolished. One mural is by Walter Womacka, perhaps the most famous artist of the DDR. His 15-meter high mosaic, entitled Der Mensch, das Maß aller Dinge (Man, The Measure of All Things), is up for grabs. As is Lob des Kommunismus (In Praise of Communism), an 11-meter long painting by Ronald Paris, which currently sits in the ballroom of the former statistics office of the DDR (see below).
However, there is a catch: The new owner must pay for the removal of the murals. One art restoration expert estimates it will cost about 18,000 EU to disassemble them, and 13,000 EU to restore and preserve them. Interested? Apply here.
As a postscript, Womacka also created the wonderful mosaics which decorate the walls of the Haus des Lehrers (Teachers’ House) at Alexanderplatz. Womacka’s inspired murals make us question the commonly-held view that all Communist-era architecture is “ugly”. Visitors to Alexanderplatz would do well to linger for a moment outside the Haus des Lehrers, and from this vantage point observe the hiddeous new malls which now blight the corners opposite. Here’s what B EAST editor Joel Alas wrote about communist-versus-capitalist architecture, back in our ‘East Sides’ issue in Summer 2008:
“Architecture in the West today is just as bland as its Eastern precursor. In fact, today’s urban design seems to owe a lot to Soviet central planning. Prefabricated slabs of concrete remains the preferred material of use. Boxy, monotonous and anonymous designs continue to sprout like fungi in cities everywhere, even as the West titters and shakes its head at the mistakes of Soviet designers. Wait ten years until the paint starts to fade and the rendering flakes off, and the ironic similarity between Eastern mass housing projects and Western mass profit projects becomes apparent.”