Visual Arts

One of the greatest architectural monstrosities of German history no longer exists: the Berlin Wall. The sheer bewilderment generated by the building of the Wall was matched by the disbelief when it finally came down. It had been predicted that the Wall would stand for a hundred years – a prophecy that did not come true. The Berlin Wall, a demarcation line that divided two political systems right across the city, could suddenly be crossed again without any problems.

With the official declaration that the Wall no longer represented a barrier separating the citizens of Berlin, it didn't take long before the Wall became an object of economic interest and even a source of nostalgia. Tourists began pouring into the former so-called "death strip". Business boomed in the sale of Berlin Wall souvenirs. Buying a chunk of the wall meant being able to take a piece of German history home with you.

When the Wall came down, a huge strip of land running through Berlin opened up for construction projects, ranging from cautious urban planning to brutal speculation and long- term strategies of large corporations. It was inevitable that the Wall, as symbol of the separation of East and West Germany, would very quickly be consigned to history and that any visible traces of it would be erased within a few years.

Norbert Enker set about photographing the changes along the border from December 1989 to March 1992 in order to create a photographic record of the cicatrisation of this historical wound.