The poetry of light

by Silva Wischeropp

This architectural interior photograph in the Museum für Gegenwart was taken during my art project at the Akademie für Digitale Medien Berlin in the late morning hours of 18 October 2016 with the NIKON D90 camera (lens: SIGMA 18.0-50.0 mm f/2.8).
The daylight streaming in through the huge glass windows gives the building a particularly interesting lighting mood.

With the opening of the Museum für Gegenwart in the Hamburger Bahnhof in November 1996, the Nationalgalerie also gained a permanent exhibition venue for contemporary art, which is constantly changing due to the lively exhibition programme. The Hamburger Bahnhof is the Nationalgalerie's largest building and its dimensions alone are impressive. Since the Hamburger Bahnhof was taken over by Berlin and the federal government in November 2022, the museum has been called Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.
The former terminus station was closed in 1884 after only 38 years of operation. Today, it is the only surviving railway station building from the second half of the 19th century in Berlin.
The use of the late classicist head building as an exhibition space followed quite quickly: in 1904 it housed the Transport and Building Museum. The building was badly damaged during the Second World War and remained unused until 1984.
In 1996, it was reopened as the Museum für Gegenwart. In November 2022, the federal government and the state of Berlin jointly acquired the museum.

The Hamburger Bahnhof is not only a historic building, but also a lively place for art and society. The museum not only shows the collection of the 21st century, but also special exhibitions and offers a diverse programme for the public. The museum is open to the public and is seen as a place for encounters and dialogue.