Man Conquers the Cosmos!

I was chatting to the gang over at @Modernistmag this week as this building is possibly now gawn, although some reports online have the demolition scheduled for 2023.

It’s to be pulled down to rebuild what was there before it, destroyed by WW2 and the subsequent GDR government.

The work is in the Socialist Realism style and is called ‘Man Conquers the Cosmos’ by the artist Fritz Eisel.

The building is/was Potsdam’s data processing centre during the Soviet years —The Kreativhaus Computer Center.

The ensemble shouts: Look at us here in the Eastern Bloc – we’ve got it ALL sussed—the GDR propaganda machine in full swing. Or maybe you don’t class it as propaganda – it depends on your viewpoint.

There are/were over a dozen of these 6 x 6 ft giant mosaic panels – I didn’t capture all of them, sadly. Maybe they were already in the process of being removed, as I don’t recall seeing a few that I’ve subsequently seen online.

Themes are typical Soviet subjects: the race for space, superiority in science, egalitarianism and – of course – the words of the great man himself, Karl Marx.

Next time I am in Potsdam – which is pretty regular – I will head back and check where they’re at with the plans unless a reader beats me to it and lets me know what’s what before.

I will keep you posted.