Gezicht op het kantoor van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken aan de Wilhelmsplatz in Berlijn, Duitsland before 1877

This is a photograph of the German Foreign Office in Berlin, taken by an anonymous photographer. It’s an albumen print, a process that involves coating paper with egg white to create a glossy surface for the photographic emulsion. Notice how the albumen print renders the building’s facade in great detail. Each brick, window, and architectural ornament is sharply defined. The choice of this process highlights the photographer's attention to the building’s materiality, with emphasis on texture and form. Consider the amount of labor involved in the Foreign Office's construction, from quarrying the stone to carving the decorative elements. The building itself is a product of industrial capitalism, reflecting the organization and resources required to erect such a massive structure. Its grandeur would have been made possible by legions of workers, many of whom would have been laboring in difficult conditions. Understanding the materials and the making illuminates the Foreign Office beyond its architectural design, revealing complex social and economic dimensions of its creation.