Fotografiska Berlin

The Tacheles as a New Home for Photography

The building stands at the corner of Oranienburger Straße and Friedrichstraße and was originally opened in 1909 as the Friedrichstraßenpassage. In its 115-year history, the building has survived all of the city’s radical political and social upheavals: It was built as a department store, served the National Socialists as a party office, and later the NVA. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, artist initiatives saved the building from demolition and gave it the name Tacheles.

Herzog & de Meuron were responsible for the reconstruction, with Studio Aisslinger taking charge of the interior design. As Kunsthaus Tacheles, the building was a symbol of the post-reunification era, filled with large-scale graffiti that is now a protected monument. At Fotografiska Berlin, the exhibition therefore begins long before the first picture: The former art house openly bears its past on the walls, with graffiti, raw staircases, and countless traces of the Berlin art scene, amidst which the museum presents international photography and media art.

Fotografiska Berlin: Temporary Exhibitions of International Caliber

Across three exhibition floors, Fotografiska Berlin showcases works by both renowned and emerging artists, ranging from classic prints and digital media to multidisciplinary installations. In the second half of 2026, the venue will feature exhibitions by Thomas Billhardt, Lauren Greenfield, and Roger Ballen, presenting three very different perspectives that understand photography as a documentary, social, and artistically expanded medium.

Thomas Billhardt and Lauren Greenfield in Focus

The exhibition “Eyes Wide Open” focuses on life within an unfree system, without nostalgically romanticizing it in retrospect: Billhardt’s photographs show everyday life, adaptation, protest, tenderness, survival, and social reality within political orders larger than the individual. Starting September 26, 2026, “Lauren Greenfield – Social Studies” will follow, an exhibition dedicated to the present of digital image and life worlds, examining what it means to grow up in the age of smartphones, social media, and permanent self-observation. Fotografiska Berlin enlarges those image spaces that usually appear on a smartphone display to life-size: Across approximately 450 square meters, the exhibition combines photographs, typologies, an immersive youth room installation, an algorithm room, and a screening room.

Opening Hours and Admission

Regular admission is 15 Euros, reduced to 10 Euros, for example for students, university students, and people under 25 years of age. Fotografiska Berlin is open daily until 23:00, allowing an exhibition visit to be easily combined with dinner or a drink. Seven floors are available for this purpose, including a restaurant, two bars, a café, a bakery, a shop, and a ballroom.