The Decorative Hand of Berlin The career of Wilhelm Wiegmann begins in the grand, sweeping spaces of German architecture. He does not start with a canvas in a quiet studio, but with the massive scale of public monuments. His early work involves the decoration of the Bremer Börse and the Ruhmeshalle des Zeughauses in Berlin. These are not small commissions. They require a hand capable of handling history and the heavy demands of monumental design. His identity is tied to the role of the history painter and the decorator. He moves through the late nineteenth century, translating the weight of h…