Deutsches Historisches Museum Unter den Linden 2 10117 Berlin 10117 Berlin Allemagne
June 2008 will see the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Blockade and the Berlin Airlift.
On this occasion the German Historical Museum shows an exhibition of photographs by the highly acclaimed Henry Ries whose legacy was acquired in 2007. With his photographs the German-born American was able to mediate an image of what was happening in Berlin and Europe in the years of 1946 through 1951 to a rather distant but alert audience in the U.S.
Henry Ries was born in Berlin in 1917. In 1937 the Jewish-born Ries fled Germany for New York. With the US entering the war in 1941 Ries voluntarily joined the Army Forces and returned to Europe as a soldier on his own behalf. He soon left the Army to first work as a photojournalist for the OMGUS Observer and then for the NY Times in Europe. He spent his decisive years in Berlin. In the 1950's he returned to New York and started working in different fields of photography. Ries died at his home in New York State in 2004.
"Berlin in the Spotlight" during the time of the blockade in 1948/49 and the photographs of Henry Ries are the heart and focus of this exhibition. It is introduced with a sketch showing the economic-and social situation in 1948 with focus on the currency reform. The exhibition is supplemented by documents and artefacts from the collections of the German Historical Museum. Visitors also gain an insight into the different stages of Henry Ries's life and his reports from neighbouring European countries widen the viewpoint on post-war Europe.