Architecture on glass

Photographs by Otto Hagemann

Otto Hagemann

The Landesarchiv Berlin presents a selection of works spanning four decades by the architecture photographer Otto Hagemann (1884 – 1974), who recorded numerous architectural motifs on large-format glass plates between 1921 and 1960. He was primarily a chronicler of the new construction undertaken by Berlin’s housing associations, which commissioned him to document their pioneering building projects from 1928 onward. His works for the Staatliche Bildstelle Berlin demonstrate his skills in photogrammetry. For the Deutscher Kunstverlag, he illustrated the formal language of Gothic cathedrals, Prussian military fortresses and the timber-framework romanticism of various regions across the German Empire. As a freelancer and independent publisher, Hagemann also photographed residential settlements, office interiors and exhibitions.
Thanks to digital technology, it was possible to restore the damaged large-format glass negatives. The exhibition also illuminates the history of how this work of cultural heritage was saved.