Initially, only Max Pechstein resided at Durlacher Straße 15 (then Durlacher Straße 14); his live-in studio was on the second floor of the rear building. His friends from Dresden visited him there regularly before settling in the capital themselves. Two years later, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner moved into the studio building constructed for the sculptor and plasterer Richard Bieber and founded the MUIM-Institut School of Painting with Pechstein. 
 

This location symbolises the group’s sense of a new beginning in Berlin and was a popular meeting place for many progressive artists of the time. The audio walk begins here, in front of the former pub Zum Bieberbau, and with it the story of Emy Frisch and her friends from the Brücke artists’ group, who frequently gathered here in the autumn of 1911. 

Stierstraße 3 was Emy Frisch’s second address in Berlin. She most likely moved into the ground floor flat shortly before the dissolution of the Brücke group and initially lived there on her own for six years; she then married Karl Schmidt-Rottluff upon his return from the war and he moved in with her. 
 

In 1913, it is likely that Emy Frisch was already working here as a photographer and documentarian of the Brücke artworks. The location for the next chapter can be comfortably viewed from a bench on the opposite side of the street while we learn more about Emy Frisch and her passion for photography.

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff resided at Niedstraße 14 until he married Emy Frisch in 1919 and moved into her apartment at Stierstraße 3. Schmidt-Rottluff continued to use his attic flat as a studio until the couple relocated to Bamberger Straße 19 in 1933. This street is known for its famous residents. The writer Uwe Johnson, for example, later lived at the same address as Schmidt-Rottluff, while Günter Grass’s family were in the building next door. 

The balcony of the former live-in studio is clearly visible from the other side of the street. In Chapter 3, we learn more about Karl Schmidt-Rottluff as well as Emy Frisch’s relationship with the Brücke painter.

The Expressionist artist and painter Emma Ritter used to live on the site where this supermarket stands today. She and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff met during a summer holiday in Dangast; from then on, they maintained a close artistic dialogue. Emy Frisch and Emma Ritter were also friends. Emy Frisch had arranged the small studio flat in Schmargendorfer Straße for Ritter and the pair kept in touch even after the Brücke disbanded in 1913.

In Chapter 4, we meet Emma Ritter, who worked as an artist until her death. Although she was enthusiastic about the Brücke’s artistic direction, she never seems to have considered becoming a member of the group herself. 

Otto and Maschka Mueller only moved to Wilhelmshöher Str. 18 in 1916 – in other words, after the dissolution of the Brücke. As Otto Mueller was called to the front during their first year of living there, Maschka Mueller resided at this address almost exclusively on her own. During his absence, she organised the sale and exhibition of her husband’s works from here in correspondence with him.

Not much is known about Otto Mueller himself. In Chapter 5, fictionalised neighbours and people close to him portray an intentionally incomplete picture of the painter. One thing that is certain, however, is that he was the most popular among the members of the Brücke and maintained a friendly relationship with everyone even after the group had disbanded. 

Otto Mueller initially lived at what was then Mommsenstraße 60, where he painted murals on the walls of his attic flat. In 1911, Mueller passed the apartment on to Erich Heckel, who designated it as the group’s official business address. 

In the final chapter of the audio walk, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel meet and we learn more about the background and conflicts that led to the dissolution of the group.