Lost Berlin
LOST BERLIN evokes the atmosphere and ambiance of one of the great cultural and artistic centers of the world, which began to die spiritually in the 1930s before it was physically obliterated in the 1940s. The great capital is barely recognizable following the enforced face lift it suffered after World War II. Few notable landmarks remain: the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and the restored Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. LOST BERLIN recaptures the heady days of the Golden Twenties, when the city vibrated with new ideas, drama, art and the Charleston.
From Expressionism to Dada, from The Cabinet of Dr Caligari to The Blue Angel, from Erwin Piscator to Bertolt Brecht and from Lotte Lenya to Marlene Dietrich the Weimar experience is recreated. The advent of Hitler was the kiss of death to this cultural flowering and many of the great men and women left Berlin: Albert Einstein, Arnold Schonberg, Thomas Mann and Marlene Dietrich. Berlin under Hitler retained the glamor of cosmopolitan life; opera and film flourished. As the war clouds loomed over Germany the once exuberant city became grim and as the austerities of war were imposed the old Berlin slowly died. Finally, Berlin was levelled by Allied bombing and was occupied and looted by Soviet troops. Illustrated by hundreds of rare photographs, posters and artifacts LOST BERLIN recaptures the vitality in the Berliner Luft.