Cold War and Economic Miracle

Herbert Maschke

The colour photographs of Herbert Maschke (1915 – 2005) show the proud image of a city being resurrected, with old and new landmarks, in the era of the Cold War and the ‘economic miracle’. Trained in Wrocław and Berlin, Maschke first worked as a photo reporter and as a still photographer in film production. In 1952 he moved from East to West Berlin. In 1954, he established a publishing company for picture postcards, a successful business through which Maschke shaped the image of the insular city for twenty years. Maschke photographed the western part of the city by day and night, the prodigious construction works on Kurfürstendamm, and the border dividing the city. Herbert Maschke’s son has now sifted through and digitised the extensive archive of negatives. Herbert Maschke’s photographic legacy holds numerous surprises. Early black-and-white reportages show not only events but also the devastation of postwar Berlin. Impressive aerial photographs of the city bear witness to Maschke’s broad photographic spectrum. The exhibition presents new large-format prints, supplemented by original personal documents and postcards by the photographer.