The use of Socialist Realism in public art and architecture is endless throughout the former Soviet bloc. It was clearly a major tool employed by the government(s) to create a culture blindy faithful and dependent on the state. The government of the GDR again shows itself as a Soviet puppet in their strikingly similar use of Socialist Realism throughout East Berlin.

One primary designer of such buildings is Hermann Henselman, former Berlin city architect, who even laid original plans for the Berlin TV Tower (seen in first image).While his name had come up in my research of Karl-Marx-Allee weeks ago, it wasn't until recently that I realized just how many of the buildings I walk by every day are creations of Henselman. As a student during the Bauhaus era, many of Henselman's buildings align closer to the modernist guidelines than stalinist ones. Still, even on some of his most "Bauhaus" buildings are glaring reminders of Henselman's pandering to the communist government. The most obvious example of this is the Haus des Lehrers off Alexanderplatz (pictured in second image).

Covering a large portion of the modernist high-rise's outer facade is a Socialist Realist mural depicting glorified images of life in the GDR. After reading about it, I went to take a closer look at the images and was shocked at what I had not fully realized before. There are scenes showing good communist children learning and presumably on their way to serving the state well, similar to the idea of the "Pioneers". There are also images depicting the strong ethic of the communist blue collar worker, as well as the great minds of scientists all working toward the advancement of the great state (Some of these images can be seen in the third photo).

The use of socialist realistic art within the architecture in order to make people feel a certain way.