Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. Originally a museum of

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

History and architecture

The building was erected between 1877 and 1881 by the architects Martin Gropius, a great uncle of

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

, and Heino Schmieden in the neo-Renaissance style. The building officially opened in 1881.Berliner Festspiele - Martin-Gropius-Bau
. Retrieved 30 January 2018 The ground plan is quadratic (length of each side c. 70 m; building height c. 26 m). The exhibition rooms surround an imposing atrium decorated with mosaics and the coats of arms of German states by sculptor Otto Lessing. Originally designed to house Berlin's Museum of Applied Arts, after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the building housed Berlin's ''Museum for Prehistory and Early History'' and the ''East Asian Art Collection''. It was severely damaged in 1945 during the last weeks of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and reopened in 1981 after post war reconstruction beginning in 1978. Further renovation took place in 1998/1999 resulting in what is often described as one of Germany's most beautiful historic exhibition buildings. Until

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990, the building stood on the border between

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, at the boundary of the East Berlin district Mitte. The Martin-Gropius-Bau has exhibited works by Ai Weiwei, Walker Evans, Anish Kapoor, Johannes Itten and

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

Description

The gallery is usually referred to as Gropius Bau. Its central Berlin location, generous dimensions, and elaborate architectural decorations, not to mention the quality of its temporary exhibitions, have helped it become a major cultural and tourist attraction. Across the street is the Berlin "city and state" parliament building (''Abgeordneten Haus''), which was originally built in 1899 to house the Prussian parliament. The

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

documentation center '' Topography of Terror'' is next to the Martin-Gropius-Bau. Potsdamer Platz is about 100 m away.

Exhibitions

* 2013: '' Anish Kapoor. Kapoor in Berlin'' * 2013/2014: '' Barbara Klemm. Fotografien 1968–2013'' * 2014: '' Ai Weiwei'' * 2014: ''

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

'' * 2014/2015: ''The

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'' * 2015/2016: '' Germaine Krull – Fotografien''

References

External links

Gropius Bau exhibits
Museums in Berlin Art museums and galleries in Berlin Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Contemporary art galleries in Germany Modern art museums in Germany {{Berlin-struct-stub