Architectural Posters of Berlin

Berlin Architecture: Royal Capital, Museum Island and Metropolis

These architectural posters trace several centuries of Berlin’s building history. They connect the Baroque residence of the Hohenzollerns with Schinkel’s Neoclassical city, the museums of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the political monuments of the German Empire. Elevation drawings, historical city views and comparative surveys reveal not only individual buildings but also their relationships within the city.

AP 385 and AP 386 · Victory Column and Berliner Blick

Heinrich Strack designed the Victory Column from 1864; it was built in 1865–1873 to commemorate the Prussian victories of 1864, 1866 and 1870–71. Friedrich Drake created the crowning figure of Victoria. The monument originally stood on Königsplatz in front of the Reichstag and was moved to the Grosser Stern and heightened in 1938–39. AP 385 concentrates on the precise architecture of the column. AP 386 combines it in a “Berliner Blick” with Schadow’s Quadriga and the equestrian monument to Frederick the Great, created by Christian Daniel Rauch and installed on Unter den Linden in 1851.

AP 558 and AP 227 · Berlin Cathedral

The present Berlin Cathedral was built in 1894–1905 to designs by Julius Raschdorff as the court and cathedral church of the Hohenzollerns. Its mighty dome and richly articulated façade, drawing on Italian High Renaissance and Baroque architecture, form a deliberate counterpart to the Neoclassical Altes Museum across the Lustgarten. AP 558 and AP 227 present the same building in two formats, focusing on its symmetrical west front, projecting portals, drum and dome.

AP 555, AP 556 and AP 303 · Berlin Architecture in Comparison

These three survey posters arrange Berlin buildings as comparative sequences of elevations. AP 555 concentrates on Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassicism from 1700 to 1850; AP 303 condenses a similar period from 1695 to 1850. AP 556 offers the broadest range, with examples from 1230 to 1900 – from medieval churches through the Baroque residence to the architecture of the German Empire. Their consistent graphic treatment makes scale, proportions, roof forms and changing façade composition directly comparable.

AP 410, AP 557, AP 226 and AP 409 · Berlin Palace

Berlin Palace acquired its defining Baroque form between 1698 and 1718 from designs by Andreas Schlüter and Johann Friedrich von Eosander. Severely damaged during the Second World War, it was demolished in 1950. For the Humboldt Forum, three outer Baroque façades, the dome and three sides of the Schlüterhof were reconstructed around Franco Stella’s modern building. AP 410 compares views of the palace; AP 557 and AP 226 depict its representative exterior in two formats. AP 409 concentrates on Schlüter’s façade design of 1698.

AP 219, AP 336 and AP 124 · The Schlüterhof

In the Schlüterhof, Andreas Schlüter transformed Roman Baroque forms into powerful palace architecture shaped by colossal pilasters, strongly modelled cornices and sculptural ornament. AP 124 records the courtyard façade in a strict frontal drawing dated 1698, while AP 336 presents the courtyard’s extended architectural composition. AP 219 complements these analytical views with Eduard Gaertner’s painting of 1830, in which architecture and courtly everyday life share an atmospheric open-air panorama.

AP 302, AP 301, AP 384 and AP 230 · Unter den Linden and the Forum Fridericianum

Unter den Linden developed from a riding path laid out in 1573 into the royal capital’s principal east–west axis. AP 301 documents the boulevard’s façades in 1820, while AP 384 assembles its monuments as a coloured architectural panorama. AP 302 presents Eduard Gaertner’s 1853 view of the Forum Fridericianum. Frederick II commissioned this urban ensemble; its Royal Opera House, now the Staatsoper, opened in 1742 to a design by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. AP 230 isolates its balanced Classical main façade from the surrounding square.

AP 306 and AP 215 · Brandenburg Gate

Carl Gotthard Langhans built the Brandenburg Gate in 1788–1791 for Frederick William II. Inspired by the Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis, its five passages and Doric columns translate the ancient model into a Prussian city gate. Johann Gottfried Schadow’s Quadriga, installed in 1793, originally represented the goddess of peace entering the city. AP 306 and AP 215 show the clear layering of colonnades, attic and sculptural group in two different poster formats.

AP 228 and AP 229 · Schinkel’s Bauakademie and Neue Wache

Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s Bauakademie was built in 1832–1836. Its exposed brick grid united construction and façade design with an exceptional consistency for the nineteenth century; after wartime damage, the building was removed by 1962. AP 228 records its rational elevation. The Neue Wache, AP 229, had already been built in 1816–1818 for Frederick William III. Corner projections and a severe Doric portico give the compact structure monumental presence; since 1993 it has served as the Federal Republic’s Central Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny.

AP 231, AP 216, AP 125 and AP 314 · Schauspielhaus and Gendarmenmarkt

The Schauspielhaus – now the Konzerthaus – was erected in 1818–1821 to Schinkel’s designs between the German and French Cathedrals. Following its destruction in the war, its exterior was reconstructed in 1979–1984; the interior was newly created in Schinkel’s spirit. AP 231 and AP 216 examine the temple-like main front in two formats. AP 314 shows the complete square, whose tall domed towers Carl von Gontard added to the two churches in 1780–1785. The historical bird’s-eye view “Place Royale de Berlin” in AP 125 expands the perspective from an individual building to the square, adjoining quarters and urban skyline.

AP 130, AP 339 and AP 222 · Reichstag Building

Paul Wallot won the competition for the Reichstag Building in 1882; construction followed in 1884–1894. Its original iron-and-glass dome was a technical innovation and stood centrally above the plenary chamber. After fire, wartime damage and an initial reconstruction, Norman Foster converted the building for the German Bundestag; it reopened in 1999 with a new accessible glass dome. AP 130 presents the historical main façade, while AP 339 and AP 222 show the long elevation with Wallot’s original dome in two formats.

AP 232, AP 338, AP 381 and AP 383 · Museum Island and its Collections

Museum Island’s five museums were built between 1824 and 1930 and document the evolution of modern museum architecture; the ensemble became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. AP 383 unites its buildings in a continuous panorama. AP 381 shows Schinkel’s Altes Museum, built in 1823–1830 with an Ionic colonnade and a central rotunda inspired by the Pantheon. Two celebrated collection objects complement the architecture: AP 232 depicts the polychrome bust of Nefertiti, created around 1340 BC and displayed in the Neues Museum. AP 338 reconstructs the west front of the Pergamon Altar, built around 170–160 BC under Eumenes II; its Great Frieze depicts the battle between gods and giants.

AP 382 · The Zeughaus

Construction of the Zeughaus began with the laying of its foundation stone in 1695. Conceived as an electoral arsenal, it was shaped by Johann Arnold Nering, Martin Grünberg, Andreas Schlüter and Jean de Bodt; the exterior was completed in 1706 and the interior in 1730. The long Baroque façade in AP 382 is articulated by a rhythm of arched openings, windows and sculpture. Schlüter’s masks of dying warriors in the courtyard are particularly renowned. Today the Zeughaus is home to the German Historical Museum.