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"The towering, at first glance lifeless walls of cut-open apartment buildings dominated the image of German cities after the bombings of the Second World War. Firewalls, originally integrated into the construction of the building and not visible from the street, now emerged abruptly. Since then, the term has taken on a new meaning: It also refers to a wall that was once spared by the fire. In most cases, fire walls border on extensive wastelands. The 'wildly' broken window openings in random arrangements have sometimes already been bricked up again. As symbols of collapse, new beginnings and failure, the walls bear the traces of German fate: bullet holes, bomb splinters, soot, outlines of past buildings, emergency repairs. They are densely overgrown, bare or plastered and sometimes covered in graffiti and advertising.
After the end of the GDR and in the course of the real estate boom that has continued since then, many old buildings have been renovated and their firewalls mostly whitewashed over. But if you look behind these walls, you often find imprints of the same history on the inside, like the negative mold of the same casting. Over a period of fifteen years, Harf ZIMMERMANN has searched specifically for such walls. The photo volume 'Brandmauern' brings together examples from eastern Germany." (© Steild Verlag, 2015)