For the first time since the opening of the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche as a museum, the space will feature a new documentary display on the life and diverse artistic oeuvre of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Focus on Schinkel: A Look at His Life and Work draws on recent research findings to provide insights into the production of this multitalented artist, replacing the information panels produced when the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche was first converted into a exhibition space in 1987.

Fourteen documentary panels in the matroneum of the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche address the diverse creative production of this major artist, allowing audiences to discover his multifaceted œuvre in an in-depth fashion. Texts in German and English along with numerous reproductions look at Schinkel’s significance as a painter, graphic artist and set designer, and at his demanding [JS1] role as an architect and functionary with the Prussian building commission, his role as a town planner and monument preservation official, or his pedagogical vision of a comprehensive artistic shaping of each individual’s present: “the human being educates himself in all things beautiful in order to make his every action thoroughly beautiful in its motives and execution. […] each action becomes to him an artistic task.” (Schinkel, in “Essay about the Blissful Life of an Architect”, 1814/15).

Schinkel Lectures

To mark the installation of this new documentary display Focus on Schinkel: A Look at His Life and Work, from 18 January 2024, every second month, a one-hour lecture will be held on Schinkel’s work and influence. The Schinkel Lectures will take place on Thursdays at at 6:30 pm. Speakers will include the architecture and art historians Martina Abri, Heinrich-Th. Schulze Altcappenberg, Matthias Noell and Yvette Deseyve. Entry is free, and there is no need to register in advance.

The Schinkel Lectures are being carried out in collaboration with the Federal Bauakademie Foundation.

A permanent exhibition by the Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin