Hermann Henselmann, Architekt, Ost-BerlinFreunde & Friends GmbH

Designs by Hermann Henselmann, chief architect of East Berlin from 1953 to 1959: the high-rise on Weberwiese, Strausberger Platz, Frankfurter Tor, Haus des Lehrers (house of the teacher) with the adjacent congress centre, and the Fernsehturm (television tower). All of his buildings have shaped the cityscape of East Berlin, in some cases creating unique urban spaces. The television tower in particular became a landmark of the city and has remained so since reunification.
Freunde & Friends was not interested in showing the history of the buildings from design to realisation, nor in documenting them in detail. We are interested in architecture as something that intervenes in people’s lives, as something that can shape a city, as an expression of a zeitgeist. We are interested in how people wanted to organise their communal life. Lukas Fischer’s photographs show Henselmann’s buildings at different times, from different perspectives. As perceived by the inhabitants and visitors.