The Neue Nationalgalerie is honored to present Christoph Schlingensief (1960-2010) – the highly influential German artist, author, filmmaker, theater and opera director as well as professor of fine arts – with a dedicated room in the current collection presentation Extreme Tension. Art between Politics and Society. The center of this presentation marks the work Deutschland versenken (Sinking Germany) from 1999, which was part of his project Deutschlandsuche ’99. Neue Nationalgalerie is delighted to announce that this work will stay in the collection as it is a generous donation from Aino Laberenz of the Christoph Schlingensief Estate.

In 1999, Christoph Schlingensief was invited by MoMA PS1 to come to New York City, where he carried out the action Deutschland versenken at the Statue of Liberty. The date of the action, 9 November 1999, was deliberately chosen, referencing significant historical events in Germany, such as the November Pogrom (1938) and the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989). Schlingensief staged a ritual performance, or in his words “action”, where he knelt before the statue, recalling former Chancellor Willy Brandt’s historic Warsaw kneeling. He then threw an urn containing the symbolic “ashes of Germany” and a suitcase filled with 99 everyday German objects into the Hudson River—marking the symbolic end of Germany as it approached the new millennium.

Christoph Schlingensiefs work spanned various mediums, including film, theater, opera, television, conceptual, installation and performance art. Schlingensief became known for his boundary-pushing approach to art, often blending shock value with deep political commentary. His works explored themes of nationalism, identity, and the darker aspects of German history, challenging societal norms and cultural complacency. His approach was also deeply interwoven with ethical and moral concerns, which he also addressed in his books on themes such as death, fear, illness, exclusion, and faith.

Christoph Schlingensief. Deutschlandsuche ’99 is realised in collaboration with Aino Laberenz, Christoph Schlingensief Estate, and Frieder Schlaich of the Filmgalerie 451 and curated by Klaus Biesenbach, Director of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

Exhibition imprint

Curator - Klaus Biesenbach, Lisa Botti
Curatorial Assistant - Noor van Rooijen
Project Management - Luna Mignani
Communications - Markus Farr, Maribel Nicolás Cabello

A special presetation by the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin