Was The Colour Blue Invented In Berlin? – Mythbusting Berlin

“The sea is blue, but not the blue of water, but of liquid paint (…) Van Gogh has returned the colours to Nature, but who will return them to him?”
Antonin Artaud

In 1706, a Berlin alchemist’s serendipitous discovery unleashed a wave of colour that washed over art and science worldwide.

Of all the colours of the rainbow, blue is undoubtedly one of the most evocative.

It is said to be the colour of the sky – the colour of the ocean – a colour so representative that it has become synonymous with a heightened state of misery.

Humans have been reaching for the elusive hue in myriad ways. The desire to replicate this naturally occurring pigment has led over the past 300,000 years of human history to various potions and compositions – rare and an expression of extreme wealth when used.

To create blue, then, was nowhere near as simple as to be blue – or see it.

In this mythbusting journey, we’ll unravel the history of blue, from ancient Egyptian dyes to the accidental birth of Prussian Blue, and explore how Berlin’s legacy shaped our understanding of ‘God’s favourite colour’.

Along the way, we’ll challenge myths about seeing blue, traverse colonial indigo plantations, climb mountains with a cyanometer, and peer into Van Gogh’s starry sky – all to answer the question: what does Berlin have to do with blue?

“…and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.”
Exodus 24:10

Long before Berlin appeared on any map, ancient civilizations were enchanted by blue – even as they struggled to obtain it.

In fact, the very first artificial pigment in human history was blue.

Around 4,500 years ago, Egyptian artisans invented ‘Egyptian blue’, a bright blue crystalline pigment made from sand, copper, and lime. This calcium-copper silicate compound was laboriously produced in kilns at temperatures nearing 900°C, evidence of the Egyptians’ advanced grasp of chemistry.