2025 marks the 650th anniversary of Britz's first documented mention. A reason to celebrate, but also an occasion for reflection. The Kulturstiftung Schloss Britz sees the anniversary as an opportunity to look at Britz's past and at the same time to explore the present anew.

In a large special exhibition, maps, historical pictures and other archive material on local history will be juxtaposed with commissioned works by contemporary artists who deal with the village and estate of Britz, which was incorporated into Greater Berlin in 1920, in their very own way.

In its historical section, the exhibition shows how Britz has been depicted and described over the centuries, but also how it has been perceived and experienced individually. Topographical views, such as those by the Berlin history painter and etcher
Bernhard Rode (1725-1797), were created before 1800 primarily as an expression of lordly representation. In the 19th century, the authorship and motivation gradually changed - now it was more likely to be people from the Britz area who were also artistically concerned with their surroundings.

The views of the town by the draughtsman and painter Hans Goetsch (1892-1981), who lived in the Britz Horseshoe Estate from 1927, form a highlight. His works trace the transformation of the urban landscape in the 20th century.

In addition to this, four contemporary artists take a look at the present day in Britz. Mirja Busch has long been researching the ephemeral everyday phenomenon of the puddle and captures the specific nature of the "Britzer Pfütze" in her spatial installation. Using historical sounds from the 1960s and 70s, sound artist Jorn Ebner creates a kind of symphony that is acoustically dedicated to Britz. Lena Gätjens works on the visual appropriation of spaces and offers theoretical and practical suggestions. Tanja Schnitzler approaches Britz by placing portraits and urban landscapes in relation to one another.

Curation: Christian C. Schnell, Dr. Martin Steffens, Rebekka Liebmann

Translated with DeepL