Did you know that Berlin has a museum dedicated to, well, letters? The private museum is run by volunteers and has moved plenty of times during its run. Now, it presents the first exhibition at its current location in Hansaviertel in Moabit.
The letterform museum (Buchstabenmuseum in German) was founded in 2005 by Barbara Dechant and Anja Schulze. “I’ve been collecting letters since I can remember”, says chairwoman Dechant. Her excitement for lettering was sparked by family trips to Northern Italy where, in the mountains, signs for ‘Cinzano’ or ‘Martini’ were lit up on house walls. To this day, she explains, she doesn’t so much read a headline as marvel at it.
The Museum’s first location was in a Plattenbau near Spittelmarkt. “That was the first time we were visible”, Dechant says. Before that she used to store her private collection in her own flat in one of the towers at Frankfuter Tor. Now, at their new-ish Hansaviertel location (they moved in 2016), they’re reopening with a grand new exhibition: on the letterings and letterforms of the neighbourhood, which was the site of the Interbau, an influential architecture exhibition. One of the highlights? An original announcement panel from the 1957 exhibition. “One of the neighbours brought it over” says Dechant.
Address: Stadtbahnbogen 424, Tiergarten | Thu-Sun 1pm-5pm, entry €12/concession €6,50
Directions: S-Bahn station Bellevue
Translated by Aida Baghernejad
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