Plötzensee Dance of Death’ by Alfred Hrdlicka
The ‘Plötzensee Dance of Death’ by Alfred Hrdlicka
Restoration-conservation investigations of the “Plötzensee Dance of Death” at the Protestant Community Center Plötzensee Berlin Charlottenburg / Germany
Description
The ‘Plötzensee Dance of Death’ cycle is located in the Memorial Church of Plötzensee, the youngest of three churches commemorating the Nazi execution site in Plötzensee Prison.
The church hall, part of a community center, was built from 1968 to 1970 by the architect Dietmar Grötzebach (1937-1985) on behalf of the Berlin City Synodal Association and in collaboration with the Church Council (GKR) of the Protestant Parish of Charlottenburg-Nord. The community center is registered as a historical monument in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district. Since 2008, the entire community center has been under monument protection.
The ‘Plötzensee Dance of Death’ comprises 16 large-format graphite, ink, and charcoal drawings on wooden panels, each measuring approximately 99 cm x 350 cm x 1.8 cm (W x H x D) and covering a total area of about 56 m2. Created between 1969-72 by the Viennese artist Alfred Hrdlicka (1928-2009), the cycle was commissioned by the GKR of the Protestant Parish Charlottenburg-Nord, who desired an artistic design of the church hall in the newly built community center. Significant impulses for the design of the community center and particularly the church hall came from Pastor Bringfried Naumann. He had the idea for a modern Dance of Death and commissioned Hrdlicka.
Significance
The ‘Plötzensee Dance of Death’ represents the first complete new creation of the motif in the 20th century and Hrdlicka’s intensive engagement with Plötzensee was also formative for his further work. His famous etching cycle from 1974, “Like a Dance of Death – The Events of July 20, 1944,” he saw as a continuation. Also, the characteristic butcher hooks and round-arch windows of the execution site are found in later works by Hrdlicka. Undoubtedly, the church with the “Plötzensee Dance of Death” possesses an internationally significant work of outstanding quality, giving the community center additional significance as a memorial and monument.
Originally intended as a 30 m long fresco, this proved difficult, so the Dance of Death was instead created on 1 m wide, portable wooden panels. The suggestion for this likely came from architect Grötzebach. The number of planned wall panels was initially twelve and later increased by four more.
Task Description
- Systematic image-panel related restoration-conservation investigation with sondages to determine the material-technological composition and constructive details of the hanging and substructure
- Condition and damage assessment, damage catalog, and mapping
- Analysis of material composition, art technological studies, and UV fluorescence
- Expertise and concept
Client
- Systematic image-panel related restoration-conservation investigation with sondages to determine the material-technological composition and constructive details of the hanging and substructure
- Condition and damage assessment, damage catalog, and mapping
- Analysis of material composition, art technological studies, and UV fluorescence
- Expertise and concept
Client
State Office for Historic Preservation Berlin
Klosterstraße 47, 10179 Berlin
Realization
October 2021 – March 2022
