*Der Sturm*

*Der Sturm*. was a seminal German avant-garde magazine and later a gallery, art school, and publishing house that served as the central organ for the international Expressionist movement. Founded in Berlin in 1910 by the writer and promoter Herwarth Walden, it became a crucial platform for pioneering artists, writers, and thinkers who sought to revolutionize modern culture. Through its publications and influential exhibitions, it championed movements like Der Blaue Reiter, Die Brücke, and Futurism, while also introducing figures such as Wassily Kandinsky and Oskar Kokoschka to a wider public. Its activities profoundly shaped the development of 20th-century art and left a lasting legacy on European modernism.

History and founding

The magazine was established in March 1910 in Berlin by Herwarth Walden, a pivotal figure in the German avant-garde who acted as its editor and chief promoter. Walden, originally named Georg Lewin, was married to the influential Expressionist poet Else Lasker-Schüler, whose connections helped shape the publication's early literary character. Initially published weekly, the periodical emerged during a period of intense cultural ferment in the German Empire, positioning itself against established artistic institutions like the Berlin Secession. The enterprise quickly expanded beyond print, with Walden opening the *Der Sturm* art gallery in 1912 at the Potsdamer Straße, followed by a publishing house and an art school. These institutions operated continuously through the upheavals of World War I and into the Weimar Republic, before ultimately closing in 1932 due to financial pressures and the rising political influence of the Nazi Party.

Artistic and literary focus

The publication served as a militant platform for radical aesthetic theories and new artistic movements, primarily advocating for Expressionism in all its forms. It provided extensive coverage and theoretical support for groups such as Der Blaue Reiter from Munich and Berlin-based artists, promoting their break from naturalism and impressionism. The magazine's pages were dedicated to experimental poetry, drama, and prose from writers like August Stramm, Gottfried Benn, and Albert Ehrenstein, often characterized by fragmented syntax and intense subjectivity. In the visual arts, it championed the emotional and spiritual abstraction of Wassily Kandinsky, the raw figurative work of Oskar Kokoschka, and later embraced the dynamic energy of Italian Futurism as well as the formal innovations of Cubism from Paris.

Key figures and contributors

Herwarth Walden was the indefatigable central force, acting as editor, gallery director, and networker who connected various European avant-garde circles. Major visual artists featured included Franz Marc and August Macke of Der Blaue Reiter, the Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka, and later key figures of abstract art like László Moholy-Nagy and Kurt Schwitters. Literary contributions came from pioneering Expressionist poets such as Else Lasker-Schüler, Georg Trakl, and Georg Heym, while critical and theoretical texts were supplied by thinkers like Theodor Däubler. The gallery also exhibited work by international artists including Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, Robert Delaunay, and Marc Chagall, making Berlin a hub for cross-cultural exchange.

Publications and exhibitions

The weekly, then monthly, magazine published critical essays, manifestos, poetry, and reproductions of artworks, becoming a vital documentary record of the avant-garde. The affiliated *Der Sturm* gallery organized over one hundred groundbreaking exhibitions between 1912 and 1924, including the landmark *Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon* in 1913, which showcased over 350 works by artists from across Europe in a deliberate challenge to the official Berlin Secession. The publishing house issued a series of influential portfolios and monographs, such as the *Sturm-Bilderbücher*, and the art school, briefly led by Lothar Schreyer, focused on stage design and experimental performance. These multifaceted activities created an integrated center for modernist propaganda and commerce.

Influence and legacy

The institution played a decisive role in establishing Berlin as a major capital of modern art, rivaling Paris and Munich in the pre-World War I and Weimar years. It provided a crucial model for the synthesis of magazine, gallery, and publishing activities that would influence later avant-garde ventures like De Stijl in the Netherlands and Bauhaus in Germany. By promoting an international roster of artists, it fostered a pan-European dialogue that was ultimately severed by the rise of National Socialism and the condemnation of modern art as *Degenerate art*. The extensive archives and collections of *Der Sturm* were scattered after 1932, but its pioneering role in championing Expressionism, abstract art, and literary modernism remains a foundational chapter in the history of 20th-century art.

Category:German literary magazines Category:Modern art Category:Avant-garde