I Don’t Have Another Land – Art installation at Anhalter Bahnhof

The illuminated text sculpture ‘I Don't Have Another Land’ (2022) by renowned Glasgow based artist Nathan Coley is being shown in Germany for the first time: at the ruins of Anhalter Bahnhof. The work takes its origin from graffiti that the artist discovered in Jerusalem in the mid-2000s. The striking phrase is intentionally ambiguous: it might refer to the historical significance of the site, but it can also be read as a comment on contemporary issues of belonging and identity.

Once one of Europe's largest railway stations, Anhalter Bahnhof once connected Berlin to the world. During the Nazi era, it became a site of forced separation: countless citizens having to flee Nazi Germany left from here to seek refuge in exile. By 1943 it had become one of three sites in Berlin for deportation to extermination and concentration camps in the East. In divided Berlin, the station fell into disrepair until it was demolished. Today, only the ruins of the entrance portal remain – a silent witness to the eventful and often forgotten history of this place. 

Nathan Coley's work is the first in a series of artistic interventions planned by Stiftung Exilmuseum at Anhalter Bahnhof over the next few years. Stiftung Exilmuseum Berlin is dedicated to bringing the stories of exile and flight during the Nazi era to life, and to reflecting on the present through an understanding of the past. In the run up to the opening of the Exilmuseum at Fasanenstraße 24 in Berlin Charlottenburg, a public site of remembrance and art is being created at Anhalter Bahnhof.

The art installation will be installed to coincide with the first Berlin Freedom Week and will be on display for three months. It will be illuminated daily from 4 p.m.

Meeting point: Anhalter Bahnhof, in front of the portal ruins, Askanischer Platz 6, 10963 Berlin