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The renovation of the listed building of the Berliner Verlag publishing house on the north side of Berlin's Alexanderplatz presented a big surprise in November 2021: after the construction tarpaulins were removed, a colourful picture frieze appeared. It adorns the façade of the pavilion extension, is 3.5 metres high, an impressive 76 metres long and stands out as a vibrant accent to the light grey and metallic architecture of the high-rise building.

But this new work in the centre of Berlin, which is clearly visible even from the S-Bahn, is not the work of urban art activists or graffiti collectives, nor was its colourful splendour sprayed from cans. This new work of art in architecture is not new either, but owes its reappearance to almost thirty years of concealment under the banner of commercialisation of public space.

The pictorial frieze ‘Die Presse als Organisator’ (The Press as Organiser) by the painter Willi Neubert (1920-2011), who came from Thale (Harz), was created as part of the redesign and reconstruction of Alexanderplatz between 1969 and 1973. Like Walter Womacka's pictorial frieze on the Haus des Lehrers and his metal relief on the Haus des Reisens, Willi Neubert's mural was also the result of a synthesis of art and architecture and was deliberately integrated into urban planning. Since the early 1960s, the visual arts had been specifically incorporated into the development of cities in the GDR. Art was intended to accentuate urban space and lend modern architecture social value and political significance. To this end, sculptors created sculptures and painters created murals, finding themselves at the centre of public attention with their works. In order to ensure that the works could withstand the northern European climate and that their visual impact would be lasting, artists experimented with working techniques and materials. Willi Neubert had worked at the metal smelter in Thale after 1945. After being delegated by his company to study art at Burg Giebichenstein Halle (Saale) in 1950 and completing his training, he developed the use of industrial enamel for art in architecture in Thale in the 1960s. In 1971, an institute for architectural enamel was even established there for him. From the early 1960s onwards, he created various enamel murals, mainly in Halle an der Saale, including a mural entitled ‘Die Presse als kollektiver Organisator’ (The Press as a Collective Organiser) at the Verlagshaus der Freiheit Halle, the SED district party organ, in 1964.

The industrial enamel used by Neubert and subsequently by other artists, including Willi Sitte, still looks as vibrant and fresh today, almost fifty years after its creation, as if it had been sprayed or painted yesterday. And in times of tags and graffiti, these can also be easily removed from the enamel; neither are desirable on the newly exposed picture frieze.

The title ‘Die Presse als Organisator’ (The Press as Organiser) gives the work a clear message and function. Installed on the façade of the Press Café and thus on the building complex of the Berliner Verlag, the former publishing house of the Berliner Zeitung, Berliner Kurier, BZ am Abend and several other media outlets, it can also be considered a site-specific work of art. It illustrates the usual fields of work in journalism, which reports on science and industry, especially sport, politics and revolutionary struggle. To this end, symbolic and typified motifs are integrated into a lively sequence of events. A historical dimension is also evoked with scenes from the revolutionary struggle of the Spartacus uprising and the November Revolution. Before socialism culminates in international understanding under the wings of the dove of peace and with the courageous striving youth, the journalist's writing is directly inspired by the thoughts and theories of Karl Marx, whose head hovers above the scene and is rendered in bright red, which caused a stir after the first unveiling in 1973. The scenes are rendered in red, blue and ochre tones on a white background with bold black contours. The colours develop a dynamic sweep reminiscent of a waving flag. Originally, the sweep of colour extended into the interior of the café with a free colour composition on the ceiling of the hall. The whereabouts of the ceiling painting are unknown.

In their figurative abstraction, the motifs are primarily reminiscent of Fernand Léger's paintings from the 1930s and 1940s, while individual motifs are also reminiscent of Picasso's post-war works. Despite the official verdict of formalism, both French artists had a major influence on art in the GDR and were ideologically legitimised by their membership in the French Communist Party.

The temporary disappearance of this mural was due to a mixture of anti-communist and capitalist cancel culture after the end of real socialism in the GDR. While Berlin artists were campaigning for ‘art instead of advertising’ on the rear platforms of the Alexanderplatz U2 underground station, the new tenant of the Pressecafé was practising the motto ‘advertising instead of art’ in the summer of 1992! Instead of the modernist chic of the 1970s, he wanted the Escados steakhouse moving in here to have a South American rustic feel.

The disappearance of the picture frieze from the Pressecafé on Alexanderplatz in July 1992 attracted some attention at the time. It was the first representative case of a new iconoclasm against art in architecture in Berlin's city centre and heralded a devastating loss of public art, which has only been countered more intensively in recent years. While the covering of the mural on Alexanderplatz still attracted attention and was noticed due to its visibility, many other works were removed insidiously and mostly unnoticed. The decision about whether they would remain or disappear was often in the hands of staff at the facilities and institutions who had no artistic training. Polemics and the general defamation of art in the GDR contributed to this thoughtless and disrespectful treatment of public art. For Willi Neubert, the removal of one of his works was nothing new at this point. His mural had already been removed from the façade of the Pressehaus in Halle/Saale in 1991, which was far more didactic and programmatic in design than the Berlin piece. Accordingly, in 1995, Peter Guth described Neubert's working method in his standard work on art in architecture and art in public spaces in the GDR as a view oriented towards ‘a superficial confirmation of social postulates in a modern arrangement of established and politically appreciated symbols’. (Wände der Verheißung, 202) Willi Neubert devoted his artistic work primarily to the painterly treatment of socio-political themes and campaigns. This was one of the reasons why resistance to the disappearance of his works from public spaces was limited.

In contrast to the furore of the capitalist iconoclasm against the works of social realist art in architecture, the disappearance of the art at the Berlin Verlag's press café was more nuanced. The managing director of the steakhouse explained at the time that he found the picture frieze too dramatic and therefore unsuitable for the style of the restaurant. He also said that he rejected iconoclasm and viewed the work in a historical context: ‘The frieze is a piece of history, it represents a value, future generations will ask about it. (...) Who knows what will happen in 40 years? By then, the concrete will have long since rotted away and new buildings will have been constructed. Perhaps that will be the time to incorporate the image or put it in a museum.’ (Berliner Zeitung, 13 July 1992, p. 23) Therefore, the work was neither removed nor destroyed, but covered with a steel structure and white tarpaulin. This ensured its physical preservation, leaving its evaluation and handling to future generations. By covering up a work of art that was currently undesirable as it stood in the way of the restaurant's commercial attention economy, it was simultaneously preserved. Although the building and the artwork had been rejected for listed status in 1992, they were granted protected status in 2015, including the mural. Fortunately, the artwork was preserved by leaving its assessment to future generations, so that the originally intended urban design through public visual art at Alexanderplatz can now be understood and experienced again. The temporary removal of a work from general visibility allows for its return and continued existence today.

Works of art that have become unpopular or are socio-politically questionable do not necessarily have to be destroyed as an expression of criticism and rejection. Their temporary removal from view and consciousness can allow for a pause for reflection in the medium term and promote a later re-evaluation and more differentiated perception.

The preservation and visual presence of the mural does not exempt the work from criticism and questioning. When viewing it, one must be aware of the limited content and thought control of the GDR press. One must also bear in mind that the urban space at Alexanderplatz is characterised by art in architecture created by artists who conformed to the system; female artists were more likely to be involved in interior design, as illustrated by the example of the rediscovered ceramic reliefs by Gertraude Pohl in the Interhotel Hotel Stadt Berlin (now Park Inn). (see Berliner Zeitung, 28 August 2021, and Der Tagesspiegel, 14 May 2018) Non-conformist and critical art could not be displayed in public spaces. The urban planning and spatial art concept was intended to represent the collective ideology of the state system, and art in architecture played its part in this.

The 30-year time gap embodies the necessary distance to gain a new approach, a new understanding and emotional detachment from the images of power of the past. We are now in a position to better tolerate past dogmas, to counter doctrinal messages with democratic awareness and to accept the no less decorative character of these works. With this differentiated understanding and this historical-critical perspective on the art of the past, we can warmly welcome back the mural frieze ‘The Press as Organiser’!