Berlin, Bahnhof Friedrichstraße 1990

As part of Arsenal's summer school of 2024, we are showing BERLIN, BAHNHOF FRIEDRICHSTRASSE 1990. In June 1990, the border was dismantled at Friedrichstraße station. The world came apart at the seams and was reassembled. Four filmmakers from West and East Germany wanted to capture this historic moment: the flow of travelers, the thoughts and worries of passers-by, the perplexed face of a customs officer. BERLIN, BAHNHOF FRIEDRICHSTRASSE 1990 is an important contemporary document and an audiovisual archive that captures the dizzying processes of change on celluloid and in unvarnished fashion. The shots of travelers, railway employees and Intershop assistants show the small scale upheaval that followed the fall of the Wall, and the orientation problems of a city that was suddenly growing back together again. (Florian Wüst/Cornelia Klaus)