BERLIN. COSMOPOLITAN
Follow the stories of selected artworks from the exhibition ‘BERLIN. COSMOPOLITAN: The vanished world of Felicie and Carl Bernstein’ with our audio guide and learn more about this extraordinary couple.
Max Liebermann’s Memories of the Bernstein Couple
We warmly welcome you to our exhibition “Berlin. Cosmopolitan: The Vanished World of Felicie and Carl Bernstein”. We are delighted that you have chosen to get to know this fascinating couple better with us today. Let’s take a look together back at cosmopolitan Berlin during the imperial era!
Tjou-Tjou, the Dog of the Bernsteins
Besides Liebermann, the artist Max Klinger was also a regular guest at the Bernsteins’. “A little, constantly barking terrier” greeted visitors, recalled the Dresden museum director Georg Treu.
Georg Brandes and the Bernstein Circle
The Danish literary critic Georg Brandes wrote in his Berlin memoirs about how he met the Bernsteins: “At John Simson’s – the brother of the President of the Reichstag – I met, for the first time toward the end of 1878, a family in whose richly appointed home I felt completely at home throughout my entire stay in Berlin and where I got to know a host of important and captivating people.”
The Impressive Book Collection of Carl Bernstein
The book collection evoked admiration from everyone. Georg Treu and Carl Bernstein had known each other since their student days and shared a passion for the intricately designed books of the 18th century.
Hugo von Tschudi and Modern Art in Berlin
Hugo von Tschudi was impressed by the works of the Bernsteins, and he wrote about them:
“This small number [of modern paintings in the Bernstein household] was very carefully selected, and the acquisition of each piece was a matter of the heart for the owners. [The collection] essentially consisted of works by the first masters of French Impressionism.”