Munich in Ruins: Photographs by Herbert List

Munich in Ruins: Photographs by Herbert List

Destroyed City. Herbert List and the Photography of Ruins in Munich Rathausgalerie - The current exhibition at the Munich City Hall Gallery showcases Herbert List and his photography of ruins after the end of World War II 80 years ago

The Munich City Museum's photography collection is on display at the City Hall Gallery – November 21 – December 17, 2025 (DEUTSCH)

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Munich. The end of the II World War 80 years ago is the subject of an exhibition of ruin photography at Munich's City Hall Gallery. The Munich City Museum's photography collection has compiled a selection of rubble photographs from the immediate postwar period. Works by Herbert List, Clemens Bergmann, Dorothea Brockmann, Johann Danböck, and Helmut Silchmüller are on display. Herbert List's Munich photographs are being shown in the exhibition for the first time since 1995. Munich is seen anew in the rare slides of tower observer Clemens Bergmann: the bombing raids of the war and the view of the burning city from the Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady). Helmut Silchmüller photographed ruined views of significant monuments in the city. A special exhibition on Munich's urban history!

 Helga Waess (Pressefotoarchiv)

View from Marienplatz towards the New Town Hall in the 2020s during the Christmas market - Photo:

At the heart of the exhibition is a series of ruin photographs by Herbert List.

In 1945, the photographer Herbert List (1903–1975) returned to Munich. His photographs depict a devastated state capital. Landmarks and many prominent buildings, including the former Brown House, the Glyptothek, the Academy, the Hofgarten, the Frauenkirche, the Marstall, and the Wittelsbacher Palais, are destroyed. List's photographs also include ruined sculptures and artworks from public spaces.

In juxtaposition with amateur photographs and professional, commissioned postcards and photojournalism, List's unique approach becomes clear:

Having returned from exile in Greece, List was less interested in a factual documentation of the heavily damaged city; he photographed from unusual perspectives in his own artistic composition. The viewer is reminded of Herbert List's earlier dramatic photographs of ancient ruins.

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­ Photography-Exhibition 

"Destroyed City. Herbert List and the Photography of Ruins in Munich" on

 

November 21 to December 17, 2025

The Photography Collection of the Munich City Museum on display at the

Munich City Hall Gallery

Courtyard of the New City Hall at Marienplatz 8 - Munich

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