iFotografiska BerlinMitte
Thomas Billhardt: Die Augen weit offen
Key series from 1959 to 1972 by the late Berlin photojournalist, from Alexanderplatz and FDJ events to Vietnam and Cuba.
More in Berlin
Small children in knitted hats crowd a shop window on Alexanderplatz in 1960, faces almost on the glass, their mothers and grandmothers packed in behind. It's the picture at the front of this show, and it fits Billhardt, who died in 2025 and said politicians come and go, so he photographed people instead.
There are about 280 photographs, weighted to 1959 to 1972. Reportage from Vietnam, which made his name, and from Cuba and the Soviet Union hangs against his Berlin street scenes. You keep returning to Alexanderplatz with him, shot over decades as a traffic hub, a political stage and a building site, a theme Berlin has kindly kept going ever since. The Stasi tried to recruit him several times; he always refused.
Come for the young Billhardt, not a career survey. Tickets are €15, or €10 for under-25s, students and over-65s; under-13s go free. It's open daily until 23:00 (last entry 22:00), and Tuesdays from 18:00 online tickets are two for one.
Look for
Alexanderplatz, Berlin, 1960
Look for a crowd of small children in bobble hats pressed against a shop window, the adults stacked behind them and a travel agency across the street.
Soldatenpaar, Hanoi, Vietnam, 1968
Two young soldiers walk away from the camera hand in hand by the water, rifles with fixed bayonets slung over their shoulders, her long plait down her back.
Deutschlandtreffen, Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion, Berlin, 1964
At the opening of the FDJ rally, a gymnast in a white leotard walks out with her face hidden behind a huge flag, ranks of uniformed youth and a packed stand behind her.
Havanna, Kuba, 1961
A young woman in hoop earrings and a ruffled off-the-shoulder top smiles at a shop window full of glossy portrait photos.
Alexanderplatz, Berlin, 1987
A colour view from high up: the TV tower over a wide, near-empty square, with rows of small cars waiting at the junction below.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Skip if
You want a full career survey: the show concentrates on 1959 to 1972.
With kids
Children up to 12 go free with an adult, and there are lifts to every floor.
Also at Fotografiska Berlin
On now nearby
![KOO JEONG A, Land of Ouss [Kangse], 2025–2026, installation view](https://stjzqvtsmrdsnxjcolnn.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/martin-and-lewis/registry/exhibitions/bb7bdf792abf4ca196932a48ad1f5c09-w256.webp)
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Thomas Billhardt: Die Augen weit offen© Thomas Billhardt, CAMERA WORK Gallery
- KOO JEONG A: OUSSSEANCourtesy of KW Institute for Contemporary Art
- Susan Hiller: Bad DreamsCourtesy of KW Institute for Contemporary Art
- Rafik Greiss: The City and the City© the artist.
- Fotografiska BerlinShaysd / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sammlung BorosJean-Pierre Dalbéra / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- KW Institute for Contemporary ArtJörg Zägel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bode-MuseumThomas Wolf / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- PergamonmuseumHerrAdams / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0