Deutsch
English
Personal statement by the photographer, background information
"Do places preserve memories? A seemingly innocent black locust grove, a piece of lost landscape in the heart of Berlin, reveals nothing of its secret in the photographs of Berlin-based photographer Andreas Gehrke. It is only what it is, and yet it conveys a story. From 1933 to 1945, the most important institutions of the National Socialist persecution and terror apparatus were located on the site in the immediate vicinity of the government district of the Reich capital Berlin: the headquarters of the Gestapo, the SS and the Reich Security Main Office. After the end of World War II and the division of the city, the site became a fallow open space. By the early 1960s, all remnants of buildings had been demolished. From 1961, the Berlin Wall stood to the north of the leveled area. It was not until 1987 that the rediscovered site with its exposed building remains was made accessible to the public and the Topography of Terror exhibition opened. 'When I took the first pictures of the site, it was clear to me that this is a special place, that the condition of this grove diffusely reflects something more comprehensive,' says Andreas GEHRKE, who regularly visited the small area with his camera over the course of a year.
Content
The photo volume 'Topography' by Andreas GEHRKE is an elaborately designed series whose content offers everything to the viewer and prescribes nothing. Berlin born photographer has spent most of his life here. With the attention he devotes to a chosen place, he is able to grasp its essence and convey it in his photographs. Sometimes they seem to contain everything that once was, what is and what will be. The photo volume 'Topography' by Andreas GEHRKE contains texts by Klaus Hesse as well as by Thomas Seelig." (freely translated, © Distanz Verlag, 2011)