Leseprobe

History of the production of the Transparent Figures 1945–2000 Only one not completely finished Transparent Woman survived the assault in the DHMD. 18 Two more Transparent Men owned by the museum could still be seen in travelling exhibitions in 1944/45 in western Germany and Spain, and their whereabouts were initially unknown. 19 A new beginning in the manufacture of Transparent Fig- ures was thus unavoidable – especially since the creator of the first Transparent Humans and head of the so-called Cellon Department, Franz Tschackert, was terminated by the museum in 1946 due to his NSDAP membership. 20 The salvage and clearing work at the DHMD already began a week after the bombardment. 21 However, the museum had to reorient itself in the time of political upheaval of the post-war period. With exhibi- tion and teaching material for the prevention of sexually transmitted and widespread diseases, in the crisis situation in 1945 it was quickly able to reconnect with the business model of the pre-war period, which had primarily consisted of the sale of educational material and the organisation of (travelling) exhibitions, and acquire the political and financial support of the Soviet Military Administration in Germa- ny (SMAD). 22 The DHMD was already placed under the authority of the German Central Administration for Healthcare (DZVG) in 1946. Following the founding of the GDR, it developed into the Central In- stitute for Medical Enlightenment. 23 The reconstruction of the “Man” collection with the Transparent Man was immediately given priority. 24 The Transparent Woman remaining in the DHMD was completed in 1946. 25 In September 1947, the first new order for a Transparent Couple was received from the SMAD. 26 However, its manufacture proceeded only slowly due to a lack of materials. 27 Only in 1949 was a Transparent Couple completed under the direction of the new workshop master Herbert Kern (1904–1984), and was sent to Moscow as a gift of the state government of Saxony on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Josef Stalin. 28 In 1951/52, the GDR sent a Transparent Woman to China on the occasion of the second anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of Chi- na. This was considered as a personal gift to Mao Zedong. 29 That the Transparent Figures were deployed as state gifts occurred several times, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. 30 The recipients also often included non-aligned states, market access to and the political rec- ognition of which the GDR was hoping to acquire. 31 The first newly produced Transparent Humans after 1945 differ significantly from their predecessors of the 1930s. These had been distinguished by complex execution and the visible influence of sculptures from antiquity: they stood with their upper bodies leaning backwards in slight contrapposto, with their arms and gaze directed upwards. This differentiated design disappeared after 1945 and was replaced by a simplified posture. The legs now stood parallel with one another, the upper body had no angle, and the gaze was frontal. Whether the makers also wished to distance themselves with this simplified representation from the presentations of the Transparent Humans in the 1930s, which were charged with pathos, can only be INTRODUCTION OF SERIES PRODUCTION AND EXPANSION OF THE PRODUCT RANGE 21