The Akademie der Künste der DDR was the central art academy of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(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 () 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 founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

History

Deutsche Akademie der Künste

The Deutsche Akademie der Künste was founded on 24 March 1950. The founding act was performed by Minister President 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 founding 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 () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

. The provisional location was the Kaiserin-Friedrich-Haus at Robert-Koch-Platz 7 in

Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...

. At the old location in the

Ernst von Ihne Ernst Eberhard von Ihne (23 May 1848 – 21 April 1917) was a German architect. He served as official architect to the German Emperor Frederick III and to his son and successor Wilhelm II. Among his best known works are the Prussian Royal Librar ...

extension of the at

Pariser Platz Pariser Platz () is a square in the historic center of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of Unter den Linden boulevard. The square is named after the French capital of Paris to commemorate the victory of the Sixth ...

4 in front of the

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...

, (where the new building of the current

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

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 The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

. This had become vacant after the move of the

Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initia ...

of the GDR to the

Palast der Republik The Palace of the Republic (, ) was a building in Berlin that hosted the '' Volkskammer'', the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990. Also known as the "People's Palace", it was located across the Unter den Linden from Museum Island in ...

. 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

in 1993.

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 ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es with such prominent teachers as

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...

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 m ...

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 Dieter Zechlin (30 October 1926 – 16 March 2012) was a German pianist. He was one of East Germany's most prominent pianists throughout the 1950-80s. In 1959 he received the Art Prize of the GDR and in 1961 the National Prize of the GDR. Ze ...

(music), as well as

Fritz Cremer Fritz Cremer (22 October 1906 – 1 September 1993) was a German sculptor. Cremer was considered a key figure in the art and cultural politics of East Germany. He is most notable for being the creator of the "Revolt of the Prisoners" ("Revolte der ...

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 (; March 27, 1871 – March 11, 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German writer known for his sociopolitical 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. Early life and education Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son of Adolf Zweig, a Jewish shipping agent and ...

, 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 Berlin Academy of Arts who was one of the most prolific artists of East Germany. Life Born at Berlin-Wedding, Nagel was the so ...

, 1956–1962 *

Willi Bredel Willi Bredel (2 May 1901 – 27 October 1964) was a German writer and president of the East Germany, East German Academy of Arts, Berlin. Born in Hamburg, he was a pioneer of socialist realist literature. Life and career Born into the fami ...

, 1962–1964 *

Konrad Wolf Konrad Wolf (20 October 1925 – 7 March 1982) was an East Germany, East German film director. He was the son of writer, doctor and diplomat Friedrich Wolf (writer), Friedrich Wolf, and the younger brother of Stasi spymaster Markus Wolf. "Koni" ...

, 1965–1982 *

Manfred Wekwerth Manfred Wekwerth (; 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 1965 until ...

, 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 postd ...

, 1990–1993

(1957–62), Ernst Hermann Meyer (1965–69),

(1970–78),

(1974–83), Wieland Förster (1979–90),

Werner Stötzer Werner Stötzer (born Sonneberg 2 April 1931, died Seelow, Altlangsow 22 July 2010) was a German artist and Sculpture, sculptor. For the last three decades of his life he lived and worked in Altlangsow (administratively part of Seelow) in the mar ...

(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 Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

Anna Seghers Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of German writer Anna Reiling, who was notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and mar ...

Helene Weigel Helene Weigel (; 12 May 19006 May 1971) was an Austrian actress and artistic director. She was the second and last wife of Bertolt Brecht until his death in 1956; together they had two children. Personal life Weigel was born in Vienna, Austria ...

and Friedrich Wolf. Other were among others

, and

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 of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (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 considered ...

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and Printmaking, printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Alon ...

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 the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Prizes

The prizes awarded by the Academy were: *

Heinrich Mann Prize The Heinrich Mann Prize () is an essay prize that has been awarded since 1953, first by the East German Academy of Arts, then by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. The prize, which comes with a €10,000 purse, is given annually on 27 March, Heinrich ...

for essay writing (since 1953), *

Käthe Kollwitz Prize The Käthe Kollwitz Prize () 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 prize is awarded annually by a j ...

for visual arts (since 1960), *

Lion Feuchtwanger Prize The Lion Feuchtwanger Prize is a German literary prize for historical prose. It is awarded by the Academy of Arts, Berlin on 7 July, the anniversary of his birthday. It was endowed by Marta Feuchtwanger, the widow of Lion Feuchtwanger. It was awa ...

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 Anna Seghers Preis is a literary prize of Germany. The prize goes back to the German writer Anna Seghers (1900–1983), who stated in her testament that the revenues from her work should be used to encourage promising young writers. The award is ...

for young authors (since 1986) * Konrad Wolf Prize for the performing arts (since 1988)

References

External links

Geschichte der Akademie der Künste

Wer war wer in der DDR?
{{portal bar, Classical music, Germany 1950 establishments in East Germany

History

Deutsche Akademie der Künste

Akademie der Künste der DDR

Akademie der Künste zu Berlin

Archives

Activities

Sections

Activities

Master classes

Presidents

Members

Prizes

References

Further reading

External links