Visitors to this Berlin vampire exhibition can also volunteer to give blood

Few vampire films have become as cult as Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s “Nosferatu.” An exhibition at the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg in Berlin explores the influence of this classic German silent movie, while raising awareness of the importance of blood donation.

The exhibition, titled “Phantoms of the Night: 100 Years of Nosferatu” looks at the history of a low-budget film that nevertheless managed to find its place in the history of the seventh art. “Nosferatu” is, in reality, an unauthorized adaptation of “Dracula,” the famous horror novel by Bram Stoker. Hence, the change in the names of the characters. It tells the story of Hutter, a young notary clerk sent to Transylvania to Count Orlok (rather than Dracula) to conclude a real estate deal. There he discovers a hideous and bloodthirsty old man.

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This masterpiece of expressionist cinema — and especially the actor Max Schreck’s performance — have forever shaped the representation of vampires in the arts. It is therefore not surprising that pop culture continues to pay homage to the movie, whether in “The Simpsons” or “SpongeBob SquarePants.” 

This exhibition, curated by Jürgen Müller, Frank Schmidt and Kyllikki Zacharias, celebrates the legacy of the film, but also the artworks that inspired Murnau. “For numerous artists, including many of the Surrealists, Nosferatu was a key reference point. Conversely, the film would be unthinkable without its art-historical precedents,” explains the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg.

“Phantoms of the Night: 100 Years of Nosferatu” will stand out from other vampire exhibitions, such as the one staged by Paris’s Cinémathèque Française and the Caixa Banking Foundation in 2019, by also hosting professionals from the German Red Cross. According to Artnet News, they will conduct an awareness campaign at the Berlin museum, and encourage visitors to donate blood on site. A nod to Dracula that can also help save lives. 

The exhibition “Phantoms of the Night: 100 Years of Nosferatu” runs from December 16, 2022 to April 23, 2023 at the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, part of the Nationalgalerie’s group of museums, in Berlin.