Harf Zimmermann: BRAND WAND
Foyer exhibition at Pariser Platz until 31 October 2026
Five large-format photographs depict fire walls as traces of destruction, reconstruction and social change. With BRAND WAND, the Akademie der Künste on Pariser Platz is presenting a long-term project by the photographer and Akademie member Harf Zimmermann, on which he has been working since 1996.
“The soaring, seemingly lifeless walls of the tenement blocks torn open by the bombing of the Second World War dominated German streetscapes of the 1950s. Firewalls, originally integrated into the building and serving as fire shields, now stood out sharply as outer walls. These tall brick walls often adjoin vast sites that remained vacant for long periods.
Since then, the term “firewall” (“Brandwand” in German) has taken on an additional meaning: it also refers to a wall that the fire once spared. As symbols of collapse, of a new beginning and also of failure, these walls bear the marks of Europe’s fate: bullet holes, bomb fragments, soot, the outlines of buildings long gone, makeshift repairs, advertisements and symbols of things that have long since disappeared.
Following the collapse of the GDR and in the wake of the property boom that has continued ever since, many old buildings have been refurbished. The firewalls are usually whitewashed. Taking a look behind them reveals an imprint of a building’s story – echoed like a negative form from the same cast.”
— Harf Zimmermann
Fire walls as witnesses to history
Harf Zimmermann’s photographs reveal what has become inscribed on the surfaces of cities and is, at the same time, gradually disappearing. Architecture thus becomes a historical witness: the walls preserve traces of war and the post-war period, as well as of urban development, regeneration and displacement.
With BRAND WAND, Zimmermann continues his long-standing exploration of architecture as an expression of historical and social developments. The photographs document not only the physical traces of past events, but also the changes to which the urban landscape is subject. Zimmermann’s works have been published by Steidl Verlag, amongst others.
Harf Zimmermann
Harf Zimmermann, born in Dresden in 1955, lives and works in Berlin. After graduating from secondary school and completing military service, he studied journalism, but dropped out in 1979. From 1982 to 1987, he studied photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig under Arno Fischer.
From 1990 to 2000, Zimmermann was a founding member of OSTKREUZ – Agentur der Fotografen. He has been a member of the German Society for Photography (DGPh) since 2023 and a member of the Akademie der Künste since 2024.
Harf Zimmermann: BRAND WAND
Foyer exhibition, Pariser Platz
Until 31 October 2026
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