Show diversity,
experience education
KI generiert: Das Bild zeigt eine Baustelle in einer städtischen Umgebung mit mehreren Hochhäusern im Hintergrund. Ein großes Wandgemälde auf einem der Gebäude sticht hervor, und im Vordergrund sind lose Materialien und unvollständige Straßen zu sehen.
Exhibition

Prefabricated building EAST / WEST

15. Nov — 14. Aug 26

Location
Stadtmuseum Dresden
Wilsdruffer Straße 2
01067 Dresden
Opening hours
Tue – Sun, public holidays: 10:00 – 18:00
Fri: 10:00 – 19:00
Mon: closed

24 & 25 Dec / 31 Dec: closed
1 Jan: 14:00 – 18:00
Admission
5 € per person | 4 € reduced
Friday from 12:00 free admission (except public holidays)

Free admission with the Dresden Pass and for children under 7, as well as other discounts

Partner & Sponsor

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.

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.)?
SMD Ph 2005 01367Moving into new-build flats in Dresden, November 1975 | Photo: © Giso Löwe

The exhibition

For 2025 / 2026, the city museum is preparing a major special exhibition on the topic of Prefabricated housing in East and West Germany. »Prefabricated housing? Oh God, that's terrible! Totally boring and monotonous!« That's what you might think and that's what people often think – especially those who don't live or didn't live in the large housing estates in question. The residents, on the other hand, rave about the large adventure playground in the residential complex and the hot water straight from the wall. So how do you live and build in »Platte«? We want to show the whole spectrum. Be curious!

more information

Exhibition dates

Thu / 5. Mar 26
16:00
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.
Training in the special exhibition

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

The new 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 EXT05959 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)
Save date
Anmelden
Show on map
Free entry