Röntgenbrücke (1908–ca. 1950)

Berliners have been flocking to the leafy banks of the Spree and the Landwehr Canal since the beginning of the 20th century, and the artist Max Kaus was no exception. In the 1910s, he lived on Guerikestraße in Wilmersdorf, close to the Spreekreuz, where the Spree, Landwehr Canal and Charlottenburg Canal converge. He often strolled along these waterways, especially when he went to pick up his girlfriend, Gertrud Kant, from her workplace. Kant, a porcelain painter, worked at the nearby Royal Porcelain Factory. The artist’s 20-minute walk took him, among other places, past the Dovebrücke over the Landwehr Canal.

At various times during this period, Kaus captured the surroundings and architectural structures along the Spree and Landwehr Canal in his artwork, for example in his watercolour An der Dovebrücke (At the Dovebridge). Interestingly, the painting doesn’t depict the Dovebrücke itself, as the title might suggest. Instead, it shows the view from that particular vantage point, looking towards the adjacent Röntgenbrücke (Röntgenbridge) which spans the River Spree. It’s worth noting that the area looks very different today than it did when Kaus painted it. The original arch bridge was replaced by a prestressed concrete bridge following its destruction in the Second World War.

Antonia Moldenhauer