A Building Telling Its Story

The Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin is officially part of the New National Gallery and regularly surprises visitors with new contemporary positions. Now the museum is redesigning the area between the bookstore and the collection presentation in the west wing. As the main wing of a former railroad building, the story of the epoch-defining Hamburger Bahnhof Forum begins in 1848. Starting June 16, the exhibition Der Bahnhof. The Station. A Berlin Story: Nationalgalerie. A collection for the 21st century - in individual chapters - will rewind it from the beginning. Objects and archival materials bear witness to the building's purpose at the time: While the Forum still served as a museum of construction and transportation in the early 20th century, it deteriorated into ruins during World War II. After the war, it marked the border between East and West Berlin, only to be occupied by various artists in the 1980s. Shortly after the fall of the Wall, pop-up exhibitions were repeatedly held in the empty rooms. Since 1996, the Hamburger Bahnhof has been the official location of the National Gallery.

An installation by the artist Henrike Naumann will complement the narrative exhibition. There will also be a space for people who have been connected to the building since the 1980s: Film interviews there, for example, invite discussion and describe Hamburger Bahnhof as a participatory place. The Station. The Station. A Berlin Story: Nationalgalerie. A collection for the 21st century will remain open until further notice, and admission is free.