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Coming soon
Exhibition

Plate EAST / WEST

Living and building in large panel construction

28. Feb — 29. Nov

Location
Dresden City Museum
Wilsdruffer Straße 2 01067 Dresden
Opening hours
Tue - Sun, public holidays: 10:00 - 18:00 Alternative opening hours: 24, 25, 31 DEC: closed 01 JAN: 14:00 - 18:00
Admission
8 € per person | 6 € reduced Friday from 12:00 free admission Free admission with Dresden Pass and for children under 7 years and other discounts
SMD Ph 2005 01367Moving into new-build flats in Dresden, November 1975 | Photo: © Giso Löwe

Building with prefabricated panels - today generally referred to as prefabricated construction - was not only strongly characterised by the GDR. There were and still are numerous buildings in West Germany too. Countless flats were built using this construction method, especially in the 1960s to 1980s.

But why did people build this way? What were the advantages and disadvantages? What was it about living in the Platten? Today, we urgently need many new flats again. The focus is on modular, serial construction. So does the slab have a future?

The exhibition presents the different stages of prefabricated housing construction in a variety of ways: The exhibits range from contemporary models, photos, designs and an artistic spatial installation to playful approaches and interviews to a digital Tetris slab construction game. The various phases from 1945 to the present are presented - and we dare to take a look into the future.

Blog posts

Citizen:Stage at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden 2026: Plate

Photo at the top: Dresden-Mockritz, Olga Körner retirement home, around 1974 | Photo: © Erich Höhne, Deutsche Fotothek

Photo at the top: Dresden-Mockritz, Olga Körner retirement home, around 1974 | Photo: © Erich Höhne, Deutsche Fotothek

Write us your »Plattenbau stories« and let us take a look at your photo albums or those of your parents!

We look forward to every memory and idea. Please send us your photos & texts to platte@projekte-museen-dresden.de

Please also leave your telephone number so that we can contact you. We will be in touch!

Your contact persons

Dr Claudia Quiring, curator for architectural history at the Stadtmuseum Dresden and Jonas Malzahn (studio central), freelance co-curator
platte@projekte-museen-dresden.de

And we are interested in what you really want to see in the exhibition:

  1. What topics, questions or objects should be included?
  2. What have you always wanted to know about prefabricated housing and would like to find out in the exhibition?
  3. Do you have any objects that could be shown in the exhibition? Send us a photo and tell us the story behind it. Then we can work together to see what is feasible.
KI generiert: Das Bild zeigt eine Gruppe älterer Menschen, die auf einer Bank vor einem hohen Wohngebäude sitzen. Zwei Sonnenschirme bieten ihnen Schatten.Playgrounds in the new Johannstadt neighbourhood, February 1976, SMD/Ph/2005/01248 | Photo: © Giso Löwe

Contribute

The residents know best what it was and is really like – they are the real experts. So we ask you:

  1. Who lives in them – back then, directly in the new buildings, and today, possibly under completely different circumstances?
  2. What is different in a prefabricated block than in an old building?
  3. What did it look like in your prefabricated block? What details are there to discover?
  4. And what was it like in the past? What might have disappeared in the meantime?
  5. What memories do you have of your estate/flat? These can be smells, sounds, experiences and feelings ...
  6. Did you work in one of the facilities belonging to each new-build complex (shopping centre, after-school care centre, service centre, outpatient clinics, etc.)?

Exhibition dates

Fri / 27. Feb
19:00
SMD Ph 2005 01030 UnbekFotograf VermHöhne
City Museum
Opening: PLATTE OST/ WEST. Living and building in large panel construction

Sat / 28. Feb
11:00
SMD Ph 2005 01030 UnbekFotograf VermHöhne
City Museum > Führung
Guided tour: PLATTE OST/ WEST. Living and building in large panel construction

Guided tour of the special exhibition

  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Meeting point at the ticket office
  • Guided tour free of charge plus museum admission
Sat / 7. Mar
11:00
SMD Ph 2005 01030 UnbekFotograf VermHöhne
City Museum > Führung
Guided tour: PLATTE OST/ WEST. Living and building in large panel construction

Guided tour of the special exhibition

  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Meeting point at the ticket office
  • Guided tour free of charge plus museum admission
Sat / 21. Mar
11:00
SMD Ph 2005 01030 UnbekFotograf VermHöhne
City Museum > Führung
Guided tour: PLATTE OST/ WEST. Living and building in large panel construction

Guided tour of the special exhibition

  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Meeting point at the ticket office
  • Guided tour free of charge plus museum admission
Tue / 25. Aug
16:00
With registration
AI generated: The image shows a group of children playing in a playground and crawling and climbing through a colourfully painted wall with circles. Large residential buildings can be seen in the background.
City Museum
Training in the special exhibition

"Slab East / West. Living and building in large panel construction"

The special exhibition at the Dresden City Museum is dedicated to the industrially manufactured prefabricated buildings that still characterise the appearance of many major German cities today.

Using selected examples, the exhibition traces the development of industrial housing construction from 1900 to the present day. It shows the similarities and differences in East and West and presents the potentials and limitations of the technology.

Questions about housing are at the centre of the show. A wide range of exhibits such as furniture, furnishings and photographs, as well as autobiographical audio and video contributions, provide answers to the questions: Who were prefabricated flats built for? How much living space was available and how was it used? Who lives in prefabricated housing today? How has living here changed?

We will give you an exclusive tour of the exhibition and then present our educational programme for all grades.

With Dr Claudia Quiring (curator of the exhibition), Franziska Schmidt and Dr Robert Mund (education and outreach)

The training course is published under the event number EXT06089 in the online training catalogue on the Saxony School Portal.

  • School types: Primary school, secondary school, grammar school, vocational schools
  • Subject reference: history, German, geography, social studies, art
  • Registration online or at the Visitor Service of the Museums of the City of Dresden on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon - Fri)
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Partner & Sponsor

KI generated: The image shows the logo of the Volker Homann Foundation, consisting of the stylised letters "VH" and the lettering "VOLKER HOMANN STIFTUNG" in blue. The main content of the image is the visual identity of the foundation.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the Wüstenrot Foundation. It consists of white text and a graphic element that looks like stylised roof structures on a red background.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the "IKEA Foundation" with the IKEA trademark and the blue lettering "IKEA Foundation". The main content of the image is the visual identification of the IKEA Foundation.
StiKuMu Logo Druck S
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the company "Vonovia". The main content is the stylised lettering of the company name in blue.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the GdW (German Housing Industry Association), with abstract, overlapping, coloured shapes and the text "GdW Die Wohnungswirtschaft Deutschland".
KI generated: The image shows the logo of Wohnungsgenossenschaft "Glückauf" Süd Dresden. The main content consists of the lettering "WGS" with graphic elements of a stylised house and an arrow on the side.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of "Sächsische Wohnungsgenossenschaft Dresden eG". It presents a stylised, green graphic design with the name of the cooperative underneath.
KI generated: The image shows the logo of Wohnungsgenossenschaft Johannstadt eG on an orange background. The logo contains the abbreviation "WGJ" and a stylised flower.
KI generated: The image shows the coat of arms of Dresden and the text "sponsored by the Prohlis district council". The main content is a sponsorship from the Prohlis district council.
KI generated: The image shows the logo of the Volker Homann Foundation, consisting of the stylised letters "VH" and the lettering "VOLKER HOMANN STIFTUNG" in blue. The main content of the image is the visual identity of the foundation.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the Wüstenrot Foundation. It consists of white text and a graphic element that looks like stylised roof structures on a red background.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the "IKEA Foundation" with the IKEA trademark and the blue lettering "IKEA Foundation". The main content of the image is the visual identification of the IKEA Foundation.
StiKuMu Logo Druck S
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the company "Vonovia". The main content is the stylised lettering of the company name in blue.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of the GdW (German Housing Industry Association), with abstract, overlapping, coloured shapes and the text "GdW Die Wohnungswirtschaft Deutschland".
KI generated: The image shows the logo of Wohnungsgenossenschaft "Glückauf" Süd Dresden. The main content consists of the lettering "WGS" with graphic elements of a stylised house and an arrow on the side.
AI generated: The image shows the logo of "Sächsische Wohnungsgenossenschaft Dresden eG". It presents a stylised, green graphic design with the name of the cooperative underneath.
KI generated: The image shows the logo of Wohnungsgenossenschaft Johannstadt eG on an orange background. The logo contains the abbreviation "WGJ" and a stylised flower.
KI generated: The image shows the coat of arms of Dresden and the text "sponsored by the Prohlis district council". The main content is a sponsorship from the Prohlis district council.