Tag: Haus des lehrers

“Our Life” in Tiles

Art on buildings, among other public places, was a big thing for socialist countries – and in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz is one of the most iconic and largest of these artworks. It wraps around two floors of the East German Ministry of Education’s “House of the Teachers” building like a bandage.

Artist Walter Womacka (1925 – 2010) was chosen by the East German government to make this mural – and the large-scale socialist realism mosaic built in 1964 is now a protected landmark. Its popularity probably stems from the colorful folk-art vibe which is so much softer and fun than hardline socialist propaganda art.Womacka called his mural with 800,000 tiles “Our Life,” and that’s precisely what it depicted – various aspects of life in East Germany that the government wanted to showcase.

One side depicts scientists and engineers, while another shows workers looking at an artist painting.
This section of the mural depicts worldwide friendship and harmony
Sportsmen get flowers from admiring children, while farm workers chat with each other
A woman releases a symbolic dove, while a man waving the everpresent red flag is flanked by a soldier
Another section shows a couple relaxing in a garden – which is similar to Womack’s extremely popular work, On the Beach (1962).

(All images courtesy Instagram and Haus des Lehrers website).