One Iniquity Upon the Other Piled Up in This Way (plate facing page 76) from Potsdamer Platz oder Die Nächte des neuen Messias. Ekstatische Visionen (Potsdamer Platz or The Nights of the New Messiah. Ecstatic Visions)

One Iniquity Upon the Other Piled Up in This Way (plate facing page 76) from Potsdamer Platz oder Die Nächte des neuen Messias. Ekstatische Visionen (Potsdamer Platz or The Nights of the New Messiah. Ecstatic Visions) is a key work by Paul Klee, created in 1919. This piece functions as one element within an illustrated book comprising ten offset lithograph reproductions. The classification as an illustrated book highlights the German tradition of artist-made publications flourishing immediately following the conclusion of World War I.

The year 1919 was pivotal in the development of Modernism, particularly within German artistic circles grappling with the trauma of defeat and the chaos of the Weimar Republic’s founding. Klee's graphic works during this period often reflect the Expressionist anxieties and sociopolitical uncertainty prevalent in the culture. His approach synthesized figurative elements with highly idiosyncratic abstract forms, lending the resulting prints a sense of surreal, almost prophetic urgency that aligns with the book’s subtitle, Ecstatic Visions.

The title of the overall publication, referencing Potsdamer Platz, situates the book geographically in the rapidly transforming heart of Berlin. This location serves not merely as a setting but as a powerful metaphor for urban upheaval, moral decay, and social collapse that the artist perceived in early Weimar society. The specific plate, One Iniquity Upon the Other Piled Up in This Way, visually translates this concept of mounting societal burden through dense, dramatic lines and fragmented composition.

While executed using the mechanical process of offset lithography for reproduction, the dramatic composition and energetic drawing style retain the immediate graphic quality characteristic of Klee's best work. This piece, contributing to a broader narrative of spiritual and social critique, is recognized as a vital example of early German Modernist book illustration. Potsdamer Platz oder Die Nächte des neuen Messias remains a significant artifact documenting Klee’s response to the sociopolitical ferment of the era, and this original print is housed within the renowned collection of the Museum of Modern Art.