Bridge over the Rhine in Cologne

Narrator;

When you travel to Cologne by train, the motif in this artwork is one of the first things you see when you enter the German city – a large arched bridge, with the train station on one side, and Cologne’s Gothic Cathedral on the other.

The end of the 19th century, and beginning of the 20th century, was a time of great changes and inequalities in European society.

The Enlightenment and Industrial revolution led to alienation and loss of hope, and feelings of dehumanisation from the industrialisation of cities.    

Many artists sought to return to the past which felt authentic – Gothic art came forth and explored human emotions and inner strength.

Many modernists traveled to cities where Gothic art and architecture existed. The German painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was one of these.

(Short pause)

Kirchner mixed the inspiration from the Gothic with the art of his own time.

He developed a completely unique expressionist style where cityscapes could be the motif, like it is here with the city of Cologne.

The perspective draws you towards the Gothic – crossing the bridge from the train, and the journey to the spiritually sublime Gothic cathedral architecture.