By Claudia von Duehren
The vampires have moved into Charlottenburg Palace. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s silent film “Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens”, the show examines the relationship between the horror classic and the visual arts.
The Egyptian Kalabsha Gate looks like the entrance to Dracula’s tomb. The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection invites you to the exhibition “Phantoms of the Night – 100 Years of Nosferatu”.
The film premiered in 1922 in the later war-damaged Marble Hall of the Zoological Gardens and is now part of popular culture with remakes of “The Simpsons” to the current Hollywood production with Lily-Rose Depp.
Filmmaker Murnau was inspired by images by Casper David Friedrich, Goya, Alfred Kubin, Stefan Eggeler, Franz Sedlacek and Edvard Munch. The designs for the film’s set contain motifs reminiscent of Francisco de Goya’s etchings, German Romanticism or the fantastic art and literature of the early 20th century. In the exhibition, the paintings, etchings and prints are juxtaposed with the corresponding film scenes. In addition to the film stills, around 120 graphics, photographs, documents, publications and paintings will be shown.
The play of light and shadow, plus the eerie mask in Nosferatu wrote film history Photo: IM .
Murnau’s version of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is set in the fictional town of Wisborg – the film was shot in Lübeck, Wismar and on the island of Sylt. Murnau was inspired by German Romanticism: paintings by Caspar David Friedrich or Carl Gustav Carus or Georg Friedrich Kersting’s painting “The Elegant Reader” were faithfully reproduced. The scene when Hutter is bitten by the vampire and wakes up lying on his side could also come directly from Goya’s etching “Tantolo”.
Nosferatu is portrayed in six chapters, from the film premiere through the uncanny journey to the arrival of death in the city. At the end of the exhibition, the cinema hall with the columns of the Sahurê temple awaits the visitors. In this crypt-like atmosphere, Nosferatu will be shown in full length at 11:30 am, 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm.
The exhibition “Phantoms of the Night. 100 Years of Nosferatu” can be seen in the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection at Charlottenburg Palace Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
Lectures and a very special offer complement the exhibition. On December 21st and January 12th, visitors can donate blood and receive free admission (registration at [email protected] or 0173 5364689).
“We hope to hit a nerve with the public with this exhibition,” explains Gabriele Quandt from the Friends of the New National Gallery after the drop in visitors due to the corona pandemic. And so the catalog for the exhibition was dedicated to Christian Drosten…
Until April 23, Schloßstr. 70, Tue.-Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., 12 euros