K. H. HÖDICKE

Since 1975, Karl Horst Hödicke has looked out from the window of his studio in Dessauer Straße at the no man's land of Potsdamer Platz, his "Gobi", with the Wall  – and without. He saw monsters sitting on the Wall, leering watchfully and malevolently. The people of Berlin walked their dogs, children and tearaways scribbled on the "anti-fascist protection barrier". In the distance, the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brandenburg Gate, the Victory Column (Goldelse), Wilhelmstraße, the Martin-Gropius-Bau and the Teufelsberg. During the Cold War, the area was pulverised and emptied. The painter made his notes. And so, without intending to, he became a chronicler of the most crucial events in recent German history. His thoughts on these images are published for the first time in this catalogue.