Aufbruch 1800

Around 1800, Berlin experienced a cultural heyday that resonated far beyond the city limits.

Pioneering works in architecture, sculpture, literature, music and philosophy emerged, making Berlin a centre of intellectual renewal. This era, known today as the Berlin Classical period, was characterised by intensive exchange in salons, associations and on stages, which transcended social boundaries. The Stiftung Schloss Neuhardenberg is dedicating a comprehensive special exhibition to this important period, with around 100 high-quality loans from museums and private collections.

The exhibits include a previously unknown portrait of the young Karl Friedrich Schinkel, painted around 1811 by Ernst Friedrich Bussler, and a secretary desk designed by Schinkel between 1805 and 1815. These and many other works illustrate the innovative power of those years.

The exhibition presents some of the era's most important pairs of artists and thinkers, including Friedrich Gilly and Karl Friedrich Schinkel in architecture, Johann Gottfried Schadow and Carl Gotthard Langhans in sculpture, and the poets Adelbert von Chamisso and Karl Philipp Moritz. An audio station with readings by Katharina Thalbach brings the era's literary classics to life.

The exhibition also focuses on the direct links between Neuhardenberg's history and the era: Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed the church, the castle and parts of the town in a classical style, while Friedrich Gilly designed the Bärwinkel outbuilding. Rahel Varnhagen accompanied State Chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg to the Congress of Vienna, while Carl Friedrich Zelter initiated the construction of an organ for the Schinkel church.

Accompanying programme

The exhibition is accompanied by readings, concerts and curator-led tours. Highlights include a musical reading with Klaus Maria Brandauer at the piano and a literary evening with Johanna Wokalek and Sylvester Groth, who will perform works by Rahel Varnhagen, E. T. A. Hoffmann and others.