Potsdamer Platz oder Die Nächte des neuen Messias. Ekstatische Visionen (Potsdamer Platz or The Nights of the New Messiah. Ecstatic Visions)

Potsdamer Platz oder Die Nächte des neuen Messias. Ekstatische Visionen (Potsdamer Platz or The Nights of the New Messiah. Ecstatic Visions) by Paul Klee is a seminal illustrated book dating from 1919. This complex volume contains ten individual offset lithograph reproductions, demonstrating Klee’s engagement with graphic arts techniques at the close of the turbulent World War I period. The publication is recognized as a vital example of the German avant-garde’s response to the profound societal and cultural shifts occurring in the immediate aftermath of the conflict.

The work’s title establishes a powerful duality: grounding the book in the specific, recognizable urban landscape of Potsdamer Platz, a major hub in Berlin, while simultaneously invoking metaphysical themes through the subtitle, Die Nächte des neuen Messias. This juxtaposition of contemporary reality with spiritual, perhaps apocalyptic, visions was characteristic of German art during the Expressionist and Dada movements around 1919. Klee’s prints translate these complex themes into abstracted forms, utilizing delicate lines and symbolic figures that move between drawing and automatic writing.

The choice of offset lithography allowed Klee to create reproducible works, facilitating the dissemination of his highly personal and influential aesthetic. This method provided a means to distribute challenging artistic ideas during a period of revolutionary cultural change. Klee utilized the medium of prints to explore the intersection of abstraction, architecture, and spiritual mythology, anticipating the experimental spirit he would later bring to the Bauhaus.

This historically significant illustrated book, which captures the anxiety and utopian searching inherent in the German post-war period, is an integral part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. Its inclusion underscores the essential role of illustrated books in defining the trajectory of modern artistic practice.