Berlin, admission to an exhibition on vampires for free if you are a blood donor

The best way to celebrate 100 years of Nosferatu? Offer free entry to the vampire exhibit for every blood donor

The exhibition “Ghosts of the Night: 100 Years of Nosferatu” has found an original way to promote a just cause: anyone who dares to have their blood “sucked” will have free access to the vampire exhibition in the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg gallery. The initiative is possible thanks to the collaboration of the gallery with the Red Cross German, which offers a donation point on site on a monthly basis. So don’t be afraid, and bookmark the next scheduled day to donate blood and get in for free: the January 12th.

100 years of Nosferatu: the exhibition

The exhibition “Ghosts of the night” focuses on the influence of the figure of Nosferatu in the visual arts, from its first cinematic appearance in 1922 to the present day. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s film “Nosferatu the Vampire” (original title “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens”) was shown for the first time in Berlin at the Marmorsaal in 1922.

The story is loosely inspired by the novel “Dracula“, by Bram Stoker: a young man, Hutter, from Germany is sent by his employer to Transylvania, to have a mysterious client, Count Orlok, sign a real estate contract. During the journey, Hutter learns of the superstitions of the locals, according to which Nosferatu lurks in the Carpathians, a bloodthirsty vampire who feeds on the blood of his victims and sleeps in coffins filled with earth contaminated by black Plague. Superstition and reality get confused once in the castle, to the point that Hutter, locked up in his room, sees the Count leaving the castle together with coffins full of earth, heading towards the young man’s hometown. The plague and the curse on the village, in large expressionist stylewill be resolved thanks to a sacrifice and the rays of the sun.

The film remains a great classic of the category to this day horror and Murnau’s masterpiece. From the exhibition website:

André Breton considered Nosferatu a key work for Surrealism. The film, however, would be unthinkable without its art historical precedent. The sketches for the scenography, for example, include motifs that recall the engravings of Francisco de GoyaGerman Romanticism and the tropes of art and fantastic literature of the early twentieth century. Other identified influences come from Caspar David Friedrich, as well as the work of Alfred Kubin, Stefan Eggeler and Franz Sedlacek. The exhibition also explores the impact Nosferatu has had on contemporary art and culture everyday culture.

For the anniversary we also remember that the Babylon cinema still offers a date to see Murnau’s film set to music with a live orchestra. Here find more information about it.

Phantome der Nacht: 100 Jahre Nosferatu

From 16.12.2022 to 23.04.2023

Sat – Sun, 11am – 6pm
Monday closed
Tue – Fri, 10am – 6pm

Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, Schloßstraße 70 – 14059 Berlin

Ticket € 12.00 / reduced € 6.00 – purchasable online here

Read also: Strom, an electronic music festival at the Berlin Philharmonie

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Cover image: © Murnau Stiftung