Ernst Kirchner's "Potsdamer Platz" on Display again in Berlin

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's 'Potsdamer Platz' at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany. (DPA Photo)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's 'Potsdamer Platz' at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany. (DPA Photo)
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Ernst Kirchner's "Potsdamer Platz" on Display again in Berlin

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's 'Potsdamer Platz' at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany. (DPA Photo)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's 'Potsdamer Platz' at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany. (DPA Photo)

In the year 1914, long before his persecution under the Nazis drove him to suicide, Kirchner (1880-1938) created a central work of expressionism: "Potsdamer Platz." A nighttime street scene on Berlin's busiest crossroad, the painting is evidence that the city's world-famous club scene today has its roots in a buzzing nightlife a century ago, the German News Agency reported.

At the same time, the painting already hints at the tragedies still to come, with one female figure dressed in black and a veil, presumably widowed after the onset of World War I. Kirchner's scene is perhaps one of the most significant artworks for the city of Berlin, and, somewhat aptly, it was removed from public view during the coronavirus lockdown that emptied Potsdamer Platz and other parts of the city.

Over several years of renovation, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin did not have walls to hang this work on, but it is now once again bringing this famous expressionist work back for the public, along with four other works by Kirchner.

For Joachim Jaeger, director of the central Berlin gallery, "Potsdamer Platz" is one of the highlights of the "The Art of Society 1900-1945" exhibition, and the collection of the National Gallery," with which the museum is reopening on August 22. The Neue Nationalgalerie was closed at the end of 2014 and has gone through five years of fundamental renovation.

With this iconic building, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) created a striking museum for 20th-century art in the late 1960s



Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
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Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)

Tens of millions of people across the Midwest and East braced Sunday for another sweltering day of dangerously hot temperatures as a rare June heat wave continued to grip parts of the US.

Most of the northeastern quadrant of the country from Minnesota to Maine was under some type of heat advisory Sunday. So were parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, The Associated Press reported.

The temperature had already reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius) in the Chicago area by 7:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts called for heat indices of between 100 and 105 degrees F (37.7 to 40.5 degrees C).

The heat index in Pittsburgh was expected to top 105 F. The temperature in Columbus, Ohio, was 77 F (25 C) at 8:30 a.m. Highs there were expected to reach 97 F (36 C) with a heat index around 104 F (40 C).

Forecasts called for a heat index of 100 F in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 108 F (42.2 C) heat index on Monday.

The city’s public health department declared a heat emergency starting at noon Sunday and ending Wednesday evening. Officials directed residents to air-conditioned libraries, community centers and other locations, and set up a “heat line” staffed by medical professionals to discuss conditions and illnesses made worse by the heat. At Lincoln Financial Field, officials said each fan attending Sunday’s FIFA World Cup match would be allowed to bring in one 20-ounce (0.6-liter) plastic bottle of water.

Sunday marked the second straight day of extreme heat across the Midwest and East Coast. Heat indices on Saturday hit 103 F (39.4 C) in Chicago and 101 F (38.3 C) in Madison, Wisconsin, turning that city's annual naked bike ride into a sticky and sweaty affair.

Minneapolis baked under a heat index of 106 F (41.1 C). The actual temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C), which broke the old record for the date of 95 F (35 C) set in 1910, according to the weather service.

The heat is expected to persist into the coming week, with the hottest temperatures shifting eastward. New York City is expected to see highs around 95 F (35 C) on Monday and Tuesday. Boston is on track for highs approaching 100 F (37.7 C) on Tuesday, and temperatures in Washington, D.C., were expected to hit 100 F on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meteorologists say a phenomenon known as a heat dome, a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere that traps heat and humidity, is responsible for the extreme temperatures.

Mark Gehring, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sullivan, Wisconsin, said this level of heat is not uncommon during the summer months in the US, although it usually takes hold in mid-July or early August. The most unusual facet of this heat wave is the sheer amount of territory sweltering under it, he said.

“It's basically everywhere east of the Rockies,” he said, referring to the Rocky Mountains. “That is unusual, to have this massive area of high dewpoints and heat.”