Tuin van operagebouw Kroll, Berlijn 1878

Curator: This gelatin-silver print from 1878, by Johann Friedrich Stiehm, captures a scene within the Kroll Opera House garden in Berlin. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by the tranquil atmosphere, the soft, sepia tones giving it a dreamy quality. The strong focal point is the ornamental fountain. Curator: The image reflects the social function of such gardens in the late 19th century, designed as leisure spaces for the upwardly mobile, as much a statement of civic pride as spaces of respite. Note the deliberate arrangement of flora, signifying a certain cultivated control over nature, much like the cultivated operatic performances indoors. Editor: I'm intrigued by the material presence, or perhaps lack thereof, of the fountain. The spindly ironwork and lack of visible material substance makes it blend into the surroundings, almost an optical illusion. What resources would have been accessible to fabricate these intricate designs? What labor and skill were involved in making it? Curator: The gardens served a vital political function as a visual symbol. Opera houses and their gardens were powerful institutions used by rising nation states to broadcast their political ideology and authority. Kroll Opera House, and this staged depiction, was no exception. Editor: You raise a great point. Photography like this then becomes part of that machinery. A relatively affordable medium reproducing imagery in service of... Curator: Prestige and a growing national identity. The widespread availability of these images helped create and reinforce the cultural values of the era, constructing an idealized public space for social consumption. Editor: Reflecting on Stiehm’s photograph, I am still drawn to the process of material translation – the silver reacting to light and creating lasting images of Berlin’s past that prompts conversation today. Curator: It offers a snapshot of a particular time and place and reminds us that even tranquil gardens were, and are, politically charged landscapes.