Through her border crossings between East and West, Eva Kemlein became one of the most important post-war photographers. Her photographs document a city in ruins, the early stages of post-war life and the theatre life of the stages in both East and West Berlin.

Adoptive Berliner Bernd-Horst Sefzik (1942–1994) made a name for himself as a photo journalist in the GDR and beyond. In the “Neue Berliner Illustrierte”, his reports contained striking images from across the globe.

Heinrich Zille, also known in Berlin as “Pinselheinrich”, remains one of the city’s most well-known and most popular artists. And yet, he was not born into a career in art: it was only following his dismissal as a lithographer from the Photographische Gesellschaft which provided him with the impetus to devote himself entirely to his craft.