A City in Ruins
Berlin after 1945

The Battle of Berlin in April 1945 heralded the end of the war started by Nazi Germany. The last Wehrmacht troops in the city capitulated on 2 May, and unconditional surrender followed on 8 and 9 May 1945. Tyranny and war had killed millions of people worldwide, or else uprooted and scarred them both physically and mentally for life. Huge swathes of Berlin lay in ruins.

Photographers recorded the final skirmishes and destruction. Painters and sculptors made moving images of terror and death, grief and despair, but also symbols of hope for a fresh beginning. When Galerie Rosen opened on Kurfürstendamm in 1946, it caused a flurry of excitement. In its windows and rooms Berliners found art that only recently had been defamed as “degenerate”. Art dealer Gerd Rosen primarily exhibited expressionist and surrealist works. This made his gallery the leading avant-garde institution of Berlin’s post-war years.