Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
17 Bundesplatz
Secret Cooperation in the Cultural Sector
On 11 January 1988 the GDR Minister of Culture Hans-Joachim Hoffmann and (West Berlin) Senator Volker Hassemer met at the Otto-Nagel-Haus in Berlin-Biesdorf. Others attending the meeting included Dr. Thomas Flierl and Ulrich Eckhardt, the longtime Director of the Berliner Festspiele. The discussion focused on an exchange of cultural events between the GDR and West Berlin. At this time West Berlin institutions were not allowed to maintain official diplomatic relations with the government of the GDR. In order to circumvent this ban, Eckhardt used the Berliner Festspiele’s formal legal status as a limited company to his advantage: instead of attending as a representative of the state or a diplomat, he facilitated the conversation from his position as a “quasi-commercial agency.”
The meeting on 11 January 1988 would not remain the only one – and it led to a cultural exchange across the Wall. Through this at first informal network, projects were made possible that could hardly have been realised through conventional diplomacy: the GDR’s participation in the Theatertreffen, the only Joseph Beuys exhibition on GDR soil, an exchange with contemporary artists from Moscow and the exhibition Topographie des Terrors (Topography of Terror) in East Berlin. This secret collaboration in the field of culture skilfully evaded political and diplomatic boundaries, instead building a cultural infrastructure that succeeded in connecting people across political borders.
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Excerpt from a conversation transcript, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 22992
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
Planning protocol, 1988
© Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 002, Nr. 37070
For What If Berlin, Akira Takayama transposes unrealised projects from the archives of the Berliner Festspiele and other Berlin cultural institutions, as well as from architects and artists, into the present and asks us which vision we want to realise in the future.
The future vision for the project Secret Cooperation in the Cultural Sector, that will be presented in the frame of What If Berlin from 28 August 2026 onwards, will respond to the following question: What if Berlin were to set up a secret cultural network?
Which of the 27 visions for the future is the most exciting? Which project does Berlin need in future? Which idea should actually be realised?
Until 30 September 2026, you can vote for up to three of the 27 visions for the future. The results will be displayed live to give the latest impression of the public’s reactions.