50 years of Germany through three generations

50 years of Germany through three generations

By Helly Minarti

JAKARTA (JP): For a nation, 50 years represents a short
period. During the last half century many events have unfolded,
some dramatic, others ironic and few euphoric, as shown in a
photo exhibition titled Germany Since 1945: Seen by three
generations.

Depicting almost all of Germany's high and low moments, the
photos are a perfect backdrop for Technogerma '99, a biennial
technological exhibition held outside Germany. This year it is
taking place at the Jakarta Convention Center, March 1-7.

What is unique is that all the photos were taken by men from
three different generations. They are of the Klar family, the
late Willi (the grandfather), Dieter (Willi's son) and Retro Klar
(Dieter's son). It is indeed 50 years of German history as seen
through the viewfinders of three generations who chose
photography as a profession.

Willi Klar (1907-1994) represents the war generation.
Experiencing the world war himself, Willi had to give up his
ambition to be a businessman due to the economic depression. He
relied on his hobbies for a living: football and photography.

He had been to war and tasted captivity and his camera work
spanned a great variety of subjects from 1945 to the early 1960s
that shaped Germany as we know it. He took pictures of sport,
fashion, industry, advertising and theaters, all contributing to
his colorful approaches to objects. His work demonstrated his
sensitivity whether applying a photo-journalist's eyes or setting
up an arranged angle as in his advertisement shots.

The lost Third Reich was vividly reflected in ruined cities,
bombed out buildings and children in shabby outfits. But instead
of emphasizing gloom, Willi captured the unusual hope that arose
after war ended, a kind of delight in starting anew even from
scratch. He expressed not a bleak mood but the candid expression
of ordinary citizens.

Willi was also lucky to catch the first glimpse of after-war
normality on the streets as he observed with keen eyes the effect
of formal change on people lives; how the currency reform and the
introduction of the new Deutsche Mark helped restore some self-
esteem among the German people.

His historical chronology moves by featuring photos of food
parcels sent by American organizations, and finally Germany
receiving Marshall Plan aid. More is found in shots of the Allied
zones that divided Germany, shiny Volkswagen Beetles as the
economy gradually picked up and on to the first pulses of
industry in reopened and rebuilt factories. He even had a picture
of the comeback of the black singer Josephine Baker, something
impossible in the recently finished Hitler era.

His son, Dieter Klar, born in 1937, represents the
transitional generation. Experiencing the war as a kid, Dieter's
lenses focused on the "new" disintegrated Germany, the West and
the East and the Berlin Wall. His pictures witnessed the maturing
former DDR, the German Democratic Republic, in the east through
scenes of political allies and their military attributes.

Dieter, at the beginning reluctant to jump into photo-
journalism despite his early fascination with his old man's
photographic equipment, then managed to build a versatile camera
career. His portfolio ranged from fashion to industry and
encompassed a short term in advertising before he served 17 years
in the DPA (German Press Agency) as, finally, a photo journalist.
Later Dieter switched to directing and producing TV programs for
several channels but still kept up photography as a hobby.

Dieter's choice is colorful - from city architectural
highlights like Berliner Dome and TV Tower in East Berlin up to
high-profile politicians like Willy Brandt. He also caught the
embryo of the Greens movement in Germany with his photos of an
antinuclear rally where some of protesters walked naked.

The rise of environmental awareness among Germans and scenes
of political chaos are put side by side with close-ups of
politicians (one of them the younger Joschka Fisher - a founder
of the Green Party and now Germany's State Secretary).

Dieter snapped the popular folk singer Udo Lindenbergh when
the artist was finally allowed to visit East Berlin. He also
pictured the back of the Nobel literature laureate Heinrich Boell
when he took part in the blockade of an American missiles site in
Germany.

He depicted fundamental changes in Germany's contemporary
politics, from the 1968's student revolt to the rallies to street
battles in the 1980s. But he also pictured pop-happenings like
the concerts of Mick Jagger and Jimmy Hendrix or the emergence of
the local lady rocker, Nina Hagen.

The young Retro, Dieter's son, represents the new generation
born after the war (in 1967). Retro was charmed by photography
when he was 15. But unlike his grandpa, who once brushed with
advertising, he was more into a solid journalistic career. In his
early 20s, he worked for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Retro,
who has had books published, now works as a photo-journalist for
various newspapers and magazines.

The only photo in color in this exhibition is his and it
depicts the dawn of the new era: the 1990s' reunification. He
caught the euphoria in front of the Reichstag (parliament
building). In his other pictures he comes across more symbolic
by taking smart scenes around the Brandenburg Tor and along the
former Berlin Wall.

He has continued to present fresh images of issues old and new
passed on by the older generation. Among them were the problems
of asylum-seekers in the early 1990s and the shadow of racialism
that followed. He contrasted merry traditional carnivals with the
somber youthful faces hanging around on the streets.

His choice of photo personalities include Katarina Witt, the
beautiful ice skater from East Germany, and Bill Clinton during
his visit in Berlin. In his later works, Retro put some bitter
honesty as he portrays old people living longer in a prosperous
Germany but abandoned since the extended family does not exist
any more.

The photo exhibition is the story of how a nation once
defeated in war and bearing guilt for its very dark history
manages to rewrite its story over 50 years (some of the best
photos are to be found at the technological exhibition). One
thing is clear: it has not been achieved without pain or rainy
days.