Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
27 Wedding
Agit Trains
The Soviet agit trains were created after the Russian Revolution in 1917 as mobile propaganda instruments. The Soviet state dispatched trains and steamships to the outlying regions of its vast territory in order to spread political messages and reach a predominantly illiterate public. The trains were painted in conspicuously bright colours, adorned with revolutionary slogans and elaborately equipped. In up to 18 carriages, they housed extensive facilities including their own radio transmitters, printworks, libraries and even a cinema. Here short films could be screened that had been made especially for these tours.
The filmmaker Dziga Vertov was one of those who worked on these trains and would accompany film screenings with verbal presentations. The most active train, the “October Revolution”, completed twelve tours between 1919 and 1920 and reaching in only two months an audience of over 100,000 people in 97 film screenings. Other agit trains were named “Red East”, “Soviet Caucasus”, “Red Cossack” and “Lenin”. Until now agit trains have never travelled on the Berlin Ringbahn.
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
Agit train
Photo: Dziga Vertov Collection / Austrian Film Museum
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 Agit Trains, 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 used its S-Bahn as a school for hip-hop?
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.