Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann (External Senior Fellow, School of History): "Gazing at Ruins. Berlin in the Aftermath of World War II"

This talk will bring together the imagery of American, British, Soviet and German photographers who were in Berlin at the end of war and during the early Allied occupation. Berlin witnessed one of the last gruesome battles of the Second World War and the only one-with the exception of Stalingrad-where a major city became a battlefield. Soviet and German troops suffered more than 300,000 casualties in the space of only three weeks. The shattered capital of the Nazi empire was a war trophy for the Allies and subsequently became the social laboratory for the postwar global order. By moving beyond an exploration of visual propaganda, I would like to demonstrate how the photographic gaze at ruins reflected and enabled the transition from war to peace.