art'otel berlin-mitte, by park plaza

Prints have a special place in Baselitz's oeuvre. The painter acquired a broad range of printing techniques, ranging from etchings and woodcuttings to linocuts. Three large-format linocuts welcome the guests in the reception hall, among them an eagle motif that appears again and again in Baselitz's works. The eagle, a reference to the changing history of Germany, appears as a tissue of lines and strokes, changing from a symbol to a pure drawing.

On the way to the restaurant, you can see the artist Baselitz at work in a picture taken by Benjamin Katz. Katz was Baselitz's gallerist during the 1960s. In one of their exhibitions, two of Baselitz's paintings were seized by the authorities due to their purported "immoral" content. Whereas provocative and violent subjects often stood at the centre of his paintings, the graphic works speak a gentler language. Thus, the hallways of the first, second and third floors exhibit the etchings from the group of works entitled Trees (1974), in which Baselitz does not so much realistically depict the rich variety of forms of individual trees and tree groups, but rather recreates them pictorially out of lines and strokes -- like the pages of the series Huts (1972) on display in the hallways on the fourth and fifth floors.

On the sixth floor, you can view the etchings from 1973, in which Baselitz alludes to his own drawings from 1959, translating them to the medium of print. The retrospective allusion to past themes and works is characteristic of Baselitz's oeuvre and typical of his works, particularly since the 1990s. Each series in the corridors is accompanied by framed book pages showing the master at work and quoting some of his statements explaining his artistic development.

Baselitz's friendship with Ralf Winkler, who, under the name A. R. Penck, has become one of the most significant post-bellum artists, is reflected in the restaurant with a series of silk prints. Via the restaurant, the guests can enter the historical Ermeler House that has been integrated into the hotel -- a masterful achievement of the architects at Nalbach + Nalbach.

The rooms of the first floor captivate with their restored intricate Rococo ceiling paintings. The new minimalist furniture and the contemporary works by Strawalde, Christo and Vostell offer an exciting contrast in a harmonic combination between old and new.

Following your tour through this striking building, so rich in new impressions, the light-flooded restaurant "Factory," lodged between the new building and the historic Ermeler House, invites you to relax in its ambient. The print graphics by A. R. Penck serve as an appetizer for the art'otel dresden, which is dedicated to this artist, who was born there.

With its design, closely coordinated with the art it exhibits, the art'otel berlin mitte celebrates an artist who has shaped contemporary art like no other, making your stay here an unforgettable experience.