![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-34196-0001, Berlin, Akademie der Künste](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-34196-0001%2C_Berlin%2C_Akademie_der_K%C3%BCnste.jpg)
The Akademie der Künste der DDR was the central art academy of the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**G ...
(DDR). It existed under different names from 1950 to 1993. Then it merged with the "Akademie der Künste Berlin (West)" to become the
Academy of Arts, Berlin
The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany.
The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...
.
History
Deutsche Akademie der Künste
The Deutsche Akademie der Künste was founded on 24 March 1950. The founding act was performed by
Minister President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
of the GDR
Otto Grotewohl
Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its foundation in October 1949 until his death in Septembe ...
. It considered itself the legal successor to the
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
. The provisional location was the at Robert-Koch-Platz 7 in
Berlin-Mitte
Mitte () (German for "middle" or "center") is a central locality () of Berlin in the eponymous district () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district.
Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Alt-Berlin centered on the ch ...
.
At the old location in the
Ernst von Ihne
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975- ...
extension of the at
Pariser Platz
Pariser Platz ( en, Paris Square) is a square in the historic center of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of the Unter den Linden. The square is named after the French capital of Paris to commemorate the anti-Napoleon A ...
4 in front of the
Brandenburg Gate, (where the new building of the current
Academy of Arts is located), archive, office, magazine and event rooms were housed from 1952.
Akademie der Künste der DDR
In April 1974, it received the designation Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic (AdK).
The AdK "helps with the development and dissemination of a partisan and popular art of socialist realism, which contributes to the formation of socialist personalities, an art which enriches the spiritual life of the people and acts as a component of the culturally rich way of life under socialism. It makes an important contribution to the research, cultivation, development and dissemination of the cultural and artistic heritage." (Statute of the AdK of the GDR of 26 January 1978)
In 1976, it moved into the at Luisenstraße 58/59 near the
Charité. This had become vacant after the move of the
Volkskammer
__NOTOC__
The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany).
The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house w ...
of the GDR to the
Palast der Republik
The Palace of the Republic (german: link=no, Palast der Republik) was a building in Berlin that hosted the ''Volkskammer'', the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990.
The Palace of the Republic, also known as the "People's Palace", was ...
. In 1987, after more than ten years of restoration work, the building at Robert-Koch-Platz was occupied again.
Akademie der Künste zu Berlin
From 1990 it bore the name "Akademie der Künste zu Berlin".
It merged with the "Akademie der Künste Berlin (West)" into the joint
Academy of Arts, Berlin
The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany.
The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...
in 1993.
Archives
Today, the administrative documents are mostly located in the .
Activities
Sections
The Academy was divided into different sections
* Literature and Philology
* Fine Arts
* Music
* Performing Arts
Activities
In addition to exhibitions, concerts, readings, conferences, symposia and archiving, the extensive activities also included the supervision of numerous artists.
Master classes
Highly regarded were
master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed.
"Masterclass" is als ...
es with such prominent teachers as
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
,
Paul Dessau
Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.
Biography
Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
,
Günter Kochan
Günter Kochan (2 October 1930 – 22 February 2009) was a German composer. He studied with Boris Blacher and was a master student for composition with Hanns Eisler. From 1967 until his retirement in 1991, he worked as professor for musical com ...
and
Dieter Zechlin (music), as well as
Fritz Cremer,
Gustav Seitz
Gustav Seitz (11 September 1906 – 26 October 1969) was a German sculptor and artist.
Life
Seitz was born in the Neckarau quarter of Mannheim, the son of a plasterer. He attended school locally till 1921 and then embarked on a traineeship in ...
and (Fine Arts).
Presidents
*
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann (; 27 March 1871 – 11 March 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German author known for his socio-political novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...
, 1950 (nominell)
*
Arnold Zweig
Arnold Zweig (10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist and socialist.
He is best known for his six-part cycle on World War I.
Life and work
Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son ...
, 1950–1953
*
Johannes R. Becher, 1953–1956
*
Otto Nagel
Otto Nagel (27 September 1894 – 12 July 1967) was a German painter, graphic designer and long-time head of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, Berlin Academy of Arts who was one of the most prolific artists of East Germany.
Life
Born at Wedding ( ...
, 1956–1962
*
Willi Bredel
Willi Bredel (2 May 1901 in Hamburg – 27 October 1964 in East Berlin) was a German writer and president of the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin. Born in Hamburg, he was a pioneer of socialist realist literature.
Life and career
Born in to the f ...
, 1962–1964
*
Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf (20 October 1925 – 7 March 1982) was an East German film director. He was the son of writer, doctor and diplomat Friedrich Wolf, and the younger brother of Stasi spymaster Markus Wolf. "Koni" was his nickname.
Biography
Beca ...
, 1965–1982
*
Manfred Wekwerth
Manfred Wekwerth (né Weckwerth; 3 December 1929 – 16 July 2014) was a German theatre and film director and writer. He was the director of the Berliner Ensemble theatre from 1977 to 1991. He was also an informant for East Germany's Stasi from ...
, 1982–1990
*
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postdr ...
, 1990–1993
Paul Dessau
Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.
Biography
Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
(1957–62),
Ernst Hermann Meyer (1965–69),
Dieter Zechlin (1970–78),
Fritz Cremer (1974–83),
Wieland Förster (1979–90),
Werner Stötzer
Werner Stötzer (born Sonneberg 2 April 1931, died Altlangsow 22 July 2010) was a German Artist and Sculptor. For the last three decades of his life he lived and worked in Altlangsow (administratively part of Seelow) in the marshy Oderbruch r ...
(1990–93),
Ruth Zechlin
Ruth Zechlin (22 June 1926 – 4 August 2007) was a German composer.
Life
Ruth Oschatz was born in Grosshartmannsdorf, where she began piano lessons at the age of five years, and wrote her first composition at the age of seven. From 1943 to 1 ...
(1990–93) were among the vice-presidents.
Members
Membership of the Academy was an honour, awarded for special artistic achievements.
The founding members included among others
Johannes R. Becher,
Bertolt Brecht,
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
,
Otto Nagel
Otto Nagel (27 September 1894 – 12 July 1967) was a German painter, graphic designer and long-time head of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, Berlin Academy of Arts who was one of the most prolific artists of East Germany.
Life
Born at Wedding ( ...
,
Anna Seghers
Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of a German writer notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and married to a Hungarian ...
,
Helene Weigel
Helene Weigel (; 12 May 19006 May 1971) was a German actress and artistic director. She was the second wife of Bertolt Brecht and was married to him from 1930 until his death in 1956. Together they had two children.
Personal life
Weigel was bo ...
and
Friedrich Wolf Friedrich Wolf may refer to:
*Friedrich Wolf (writer) (1888–1953), German doctor and writer
*Friedrich August Wolf
Friedrich August Wolf (; 15 February 1759 – 8 August 1824) was a German classicist and is considered the founder of modern ...
.
Other were among others
Fritz Cremer, and
Paul Dessau
Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.
Biography
Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
.
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
was appointed honorary member in 1955
The ''Corresponding Members'' included among others
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
,
Charles Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consid ...
,
Aram Khachaturian
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenia ...
,
Otto Dix
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with George ...
,
Hans Erni
Hans Erni (February 21, 1909 – March 21, 2015) was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor.
Born in Lucerne, the third of eight siblings, to a cabin cruiser engineer, he studied art at the Académie Julian in Par ...
,
Gabriel García Marquez
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
,
Pablo Neruda,
Laurence Olivier and
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
.
Prizes
The prizes awarded by the Academy were:
*
Heinrich Mann Prize for essay writing (since 1953),
*
Käthe Kollwitz Prize
The Käthe Kollwitz Prize (german: Käthe-Kollwitz-Preis) is a German art award named after artist Käthe Kollwitz.
Established in 1960 by the then-Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic (nowadays the Academy of Arts, Berlin), the pri ...
for visual arts (since 1960),
*
Lion Feuchtwanger Prize for historical prose (since 1971),
*
Alex Wedding Prize for children's and youth literature (since 1968),
*
F.-C. Weiskopf Prize for particularly "language-critical and language-accentuating" literature (since 1957),
*
Will Lammert Prize for young sculptors (since 1962),
*
Anna Seghers Prize for young authors (since 1986)
*
Konrad Wolf Prize for the performing arts (since 1988)
References
Further reading
*
* Anke Scharnhorst,
Helmut Müller-Enbergs
Helmut Müller-Enbergs (born Haltern/ NRW 1960) is a German political scientist who has written extensively on the Stasi and related aspects of the German Democratic Republic's history.
Life
Müller-Enbergs studied Political sciences between 1 ...
: ''.'' Volume 1, Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2010.
*
Bernd-Rainer Barth
Bernd-Rainer Barth (born East Berlin 1957) is a German historian of the modern period.
Life
The son of an East German diplomat, Barth spent a large part of his early life in Hungary, studying between 1977 and 1983 at the Eötvös Loránd Univers ...
: ''Wer war wer in der DDR?.'' Volume 2, Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2010.
* Hans Gerhard Hannesen: ''Die Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Facetten einer 300jährigen Geschichte.'' Berlin 2005.
*
Andreas Herbst
Andreas Herbst (born Berlin 20 October 1955) is a German historian. His career has been divided between authorship and museum work. He has written extensively on aspects of the German Democratic Republic and since 2001 has worked for the (re ...
, Winfried Ranke, Jürgen Winkler (ed.): ''So funktionierte die DDR. Lexikon der Organisationen und Institutionen'', vol. 1, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1994
External links
*
Geschichte der Akademie der KünsteWer war wer in der DDR?
{{portal bar, Classical music, Germany
1950 establishments in East Germany