The Jewish Girls’ School’s new lease on life
Berlin feels like it is continuously recreating itself. It's like ploughing up soil and finding treasures that have been buried in the ruins, while the process itself allows the soil to breathe again with renewed vigour. Every time you arrive here you realize that it's pointless to search for the Berlin that you visited, say, six months ago, because the city has changed once again. A store or a restaurant has closed, while other spots have opened, or some new space has again been reborn from the ruins.
An absolute must-see, or this moment's most talked about place in Berlin is the former Jewish Girls' School (Jüdische Mädchenschule) on Augustraße, a popular gallery street in the Mitte district. The school has now been transformed into a real epicentre of art and gastronomy. The project is the initiative of gallery owner Michael Fuchs and it opened its doors last spring, gradually filling up with new tenants.
The school building, which began to function in 1930, was planned by Alexander Beer (1873-1944), a prominent Jewish architect. It embodies the quintessence of the Weimar Republic's style, where functionality dominated over aesthetic excesses. In turn, the building itself and its destiny illustrates Germany's 20th-century history in miniature. Its architect, along with many students and teachers at the school, later ended his days in a concentration camp. The school itself - with its roof garden, sports hall and 14 classrooms - was one of the most modern in the city. It was shut down in 1942, already half-empty after the first purges by the Nazi regime.
A German military hospital moved in until the end of the Second World War. In 1950, the building - now in East Germany - resumed functioning as a school, but was closed in 1996 due to a shortage of students following the collapse of the USSR. It remained empty for more than ten years, with a range of speculation about its future use. The building was opened to the public for a time in 2006, as part of the 4th Berlin Biennale, which had Maurizio Cattelan as one of its curators. In 2009, it was returned to the Jewish community, from which it is now being rented by gallery owner Michael Fuchs for a period of 30 years. He says that he will return it to the Jewish community once his contract expires, so that it can continue a new life with a new generation.
Prior to its restoration, the building had been in a terrible state, with the roof on the verge of collapse and crooked windows. Although its facelift has been extensive, it continues to preserve historic evidence of its past, including an old staircase and a lonesome wooden bench from the former school on the ground floor, alongside an illustrated exposition of the school's history.
The building's first floor is dedicated to the pleasures of the flesh, or, more precisely gastronomy. Its most glamorous and simultaneously most controversial tenant is the Pauly Saal restaurant, which is located in the school's former gym hall. Above the open kitchen is a red-and-white rocket covering the width of the wall, while at the other end of the hall are two stuffed foxes with tied-up paws, just as if they'd escaped from the Soviet-era children's book The Adventures of Buratino, which turned out to be Aleksey Tolstoy's plagiarism of Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio. Attached to the ceiling are four amber-hued Murano chandeliers. If you removed the tables, then the restaurant would be ideally suited for an art gallery, with a light touch of the Weimar Republic's 1920s self-indulgence.
Chef Siegfried Danler has a Michelin star, offering classic German dishes in a creative haute cuisine interpretation. The owners of Pauly Saal have already had a prominent place on the list of Berlin's trendy restaurants for years with the Grill Royal. Their latest project is no less ambitious, but somewhat shocking against the landscape of Berlin's overall gastronomy with its uncharacteristically high prices (main courses start from 32 EUR). Nevertheless, even though the locals sneer and moan about this, the restaurant is full every evening and insists on prior reservations. In the evenings its lobby transforms into the Pauly Bar and is abuzz with activity.
Further along the corridor, the Kosher Classroom operates three days a week in a former classroom, offering strictly kosher cuisine. Then there's the Mogg & Melzer Delicatessen almost next to the school's entrance doors, with wooden tables and an informal atmosphere that reminds you of a classic school canteen. You can have a meal on the spot or get something to take away.
The three remaining floors in the building are devoted to spirituality, or almost. The second floor houses the CWC Photo Gallery, where one can still view an exhibition by erotic/fashion/porno virtuoso Ellen von Unwert until February 16. The German photographer's racy and scandalous project is entitled The Story of Olga, with behind-the-scenes stories that are no less provocative than the photographs themselves. The heroine of the photo series is 38-year-old former model Olga Rodionova, the third wife of Russian oligarch Sergey Rodionov. If you discard the photographic and artistic qualities, then at its deepest essence von Unwert's defiantly erotic photo story is nothing other than the unusual amusements of a family from the Russian elite.
Namely, the billionaire's hobby for many years has been to commission and pay for nude photos of his wife (the couple has been together for 18 years). Initially, some of these photos were on the magazine covers of the Russian Playboy and FHM magazines. Other photo sessions followed with photographers like Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh and David LaChapelle, to name a few. With ambitions growing apace, the idea came up for a book. The first one came about in 2008, in collaboration with photographer Bettina Rheims and the Taschen publishing house. The second book was published in December of 2012 under the direction of von Unwert. The main heroine in The Story of Olga is a rich old man's young widow, who, hungry for sex, throws herself into continuous orgies, provocatively balancing on the border between erotica and open pornography. Freed of their instincts, intoxicated naked bodies devote themselves to pagan rituals and lunches at an extravagant palace.
Indeed, a popular hobby among the ranks of rich Russian men is the commissioning of nude photos of their wives from famous photographers. However, these are usually not exhibited in public, unlike the case with the Rodionovs. In all likelihood, we can expect a further sequel to The Story of Olga. Rodinonov has stated that he'd like his wife to continue her nude photo sessions. "She'll always try to look as good as possible and take care of her body, which is in my interests." Since this is a gallery exhibition, the photographs on view can also be purchased, going for either 10,000 or 20,000 EUR apiece.
Another tenant of the former Jewish Girls' School is one floor higher - the Kennedy Museum. Honestly speaking, after having just viewed von Unwert's erotic orgies, this place seem no less peculiar. It turns out that the Kennedy Museum has already been in Berlin since 2006 and was previously located at the Pariser Platz. Apparently, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the USA, is particularly loved in Germany. This is the second largest Kennedy museum in the world, with more than 300 objects connected with him and his family, including photographs, films and documents. The exposition is a real lesson in mythology - an extensive section is devoted to Kennedy's only visit to Berlin on June 26, 1963. Initially, he didn't even want to go there due to the Cold War, fearing a worsening of relations with the Soviet Union. However, on seeing the Berlin Wall and the Brandenburg Gate, he rewrote his speech. Its historic phrase: "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) made him a hero in the eyes of the Germans, who appreciated his solidarity with the inhabitants of the divided city and his small act of defiance against the USSR. Five months later, Kennedy was assassinated. His impeccably ironed white shirt and reading glasses are on display, alongside happy family photographs with his wife Jackie and their children. It couldn't be more ideal; not a word is mentioned about Kennedy's extra-marital affairs and questionably close relationship with Marilyn Monroe.
Two more art galleries can be found on the top floor. One belongs to Michael Fuchs, the initiator of the Jewish Girls' School's latest transformation, while the other is the Eigen + Art Lab - the first in the current constellation of Augustraße galleries. It has managed to survive to this day and is still drawing visitors.
Augustraße 11 -13
www.maedchenschule.org
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