If you love street photography, Berlin history, and stories of long-lost treasures, I have a remarkable exhibition for you. From June 5 to September 27, 2026, the Willy-Brandt-Haus is presenting a wonderful look into the past with “A Berlin Suitcase” (Ein Berliner Koffer), a showcase dedicated entirely to the brilliant pre-war work of photographer Fide Struck.
For decades, these images were completely lost to time—until a single wooden box changed everything. This story reminds me of the exhibition of Vivian Maier, which I saw at the same Willy-Brandt-Haus in 2015. Someone whose pictures got lost over the years and then came back to life at the right time and place for a new generation to enjoy.
The Incredible Story of Fide Struck’s Wooden Suitcase
Born in 1901, Fide Struck was a man of many titles: a worker, a freelance photojournalist, and at times, one of the many unemployed faces navigating the turbulent streets of Berlin. He discovered his passion for the camera back in 1925 at the Gildenhall artists’ colony near Neuruppin.
Deeply influenced by the functionalism of the Bauhaus movement and the Deutscher Werkbund, he quickly adopted the philosophy of Arbeiterfotografie (worker photography)—a style focused on documenting the raw, unvarnished lives of ordinary working-class citizens.
Throughout the 1930s, Struck captured life in Berlin casually, accurately, and with a distinct, sharp wit. His work’s future became uncertain as World War II intensified, particularly because he declined to join the photographer’s association associated with the Nazi Party.
During 1941, Fide Struck carefully wrapped around 3,000 glass and film negatives in daily newspapers in his apartment on Lützowplatz. He packed them tightly into a wooden suitcase, hoping he could return to his art when peace returned, before relocating to Hamburg for a new job.
Despite all the odds, that wooden suitcase made it through the war’s heavy bombing and a long, chaotic trip through Germany after the war. It sat undisturbed until the early 2000s when a relative passed the heavy chest down to Struck’s youngest son, Thomas.
On May 24, 2015—just two kilometers from the very spot his father had packed it 74 years prior—Thomas opened the latch. What he found inside was a beautifully preserved time capsule of a vanished world.
A Preview of the Willy-Brandt-Haus Exhibition
Now, after years of meticulous cataloging and research by Thomas Struck, the public can finally look through his father’s eyes. The Willy-Brandt-Haus exhibition displays roughly 120 select motifs from the recovered collection, presenting a striking portrait of interwar Berlin.
Rather than focusing on grand political events or wealthy elites, Fide Struck pointed his lens at the ordinary. Visitors will see street vendors, busy harbor workers, crowded markets, and quiet everyday moments that show what life in Berlin was truly like on the ground. The composition is clean and geometric, showing his Bauhaus-influenced training, yet deeply empathetic.
To make the experience even more immersive for travelers, the curation includes a state-of-the-art audio tour. By scanning QR codes next to the frames, you can listen to celebrated German actors Ulrich Tukur and Eva Mattes perform beautifully staged audio sketches that breathe life into twelve of the most iconic photographs.
If you are in Berlin or planning a trip to Germany’s capital, this is an excellent free addition to your cultural itinerary. The Willy-Brandt-Haus is an architectural marvel in its own right, located in Kreuzberg pretty close to where Checkpoint Charlie is.
The “Ein Berliner Koffer“ or A Berlin Suitcase by Fide Struck will happen from June 5 to September 27, 2026, at the Willy-Brandt-Haus that can be found on Stresemannstraße 28.
And if you want to take a piece of this history home like I did, the prestigious DISTANZ Verlag has published a gorgeous accompanying photo book titled Overlooked—A Berlin Suitcase • Photographs by Fide Struck 1928–1941. It makes the perfect addition to any photography lover’s coffee table and is the source of many of the pictures you saw in this article.
Don’t miss the chance to experience a historic discovery that proves great photography can survive just about anything.
Photography Lovers, Rejoice: The Incredible Story Behind Berlin’s New Fide Struck Exhibition
From June 5 to September 27, 2026, at the Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin.
