Exhibition dates
Gorbitz – Life in the countryside
Neighbourhood walk
Gorbitz is home to around 22,000 residents, who value their peaceful neighbourhood as a great place to live. It is the district with the most green space within any of Dresden’s districts. A district (or small town) with excellent public transport links and a comprehensive 30 km/h speed limit, featuring around 30 specialist doctors, 11 nurseries, 8 schools, 4 after-school care centres, 7 children’s and youth centres, an adult education centre, a library, an indoor swimming pool, a club with its own cinema, 3 places of worship, numerous sports facilities, a volunteer fire brigade, 2 shopping centres, and 10 supermarkets and specialist shops.
With Jürgen Czytrich / neighbourhood guide
- Duration: 2 hours
- Meeting point at the ‘Betriebshof Gorbitz’ stop on lines 2/7
- Book online or via the visitor service at Dresden City Museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
Plate? Yes, please! Conversion and refurbishment of prefabricated buildings in Gorbitz
Neighbourhood tour
The Gorbitz prefabricated housing estate, which was built in the 1980s, has changed bit by bit over the past 25 years. Where once one block resembled another, today there is diversity, not only in the form of colourful facades, but also inside the buildings. Lifts, bathrooms with showers and windows, spacious kitchens, new balconies, tenants' gardens - all this can now be found in the "Platte" thanks to modernisations and conversions.
One outstanding and well-known conversion project is the Kräutersiedlung, which was realised between 2002 and 2004 by the Eisenbahner-Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft Dresden eG. But a lot has also happened in Gorbitz since then, and construction is still ongoing in several places.
The guiding principle has always been to preserve the strengths of prefabricated housing (e.g. spacious, green inner courtyards and compact structures) while at the same time eliminating disadvantages (e.g. small kitchens and bathrooms, six-storey buildings without lifts).
The tour leads to selected converted residential buildings and is intended to illustrate the potential of prefabricated housing and its future viability using the example of Gorbitz.
With Konstanze Mally
- Duration: 2 hours
- Meeting point at the Merianplatz tram stop (out-of-town side)
- Participation free of charge
- Registration online or at the visitor service of the Museums of the City of Dresden on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon - Fri)
Guided tour: PLATTE OST/ WEST. Living and building in large panel construction
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge plus museum admission
- without registration
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
Book launch: »Platte OST / WEST. Living and Building in Large-Panel Construction
Catalogue accompanying the special exhibition
Presentation of the exhibition catalogue for the exhibition ‘PLATTE OST / WEST. Living and Building in the Large-Panel Construction Method’
The book contains seven essays that examine the development of prefabricated panel construction in East and West Germany from architectural, historical and social perspectives.
The publication is part of the series published by the Baukunstarchiv NRW, which will also be hosting the exhibition ‘Platte Ost/West’.
The editors are Markus Lehrmann, Claudia Quiring and Wolfgang Sonne.
An event organised by the Dresden City Museum in cooperation with the Baukunstarchiv NRW
Johannstadt – A shared future with a large housing estate, old buildings and the people who live there
Neighbourhood walk
Today, Johannstadt is a mix of Gründerzeit neighbourhoods, large housing estates from the 1960s to the 1980s, vacant plots and traces of war damage. Following difficult years of transition, the district has seen noticeable further development since 2014 thanks to the ‘Nördliche Johannstadt’ regeneration area. Through dialogue with residents, visions were developed and have largely been realised. The walking tour with Anke Ostermeyer and Nilsson Samuelsson from the Department of Urban Planning and Mobility takes participants through the post-war residential neighbourhoods and their historic surroundings. The focus is on the development of public spaces and the active involvement of residents in shaping the neighbourhood.
With Anke Ostermeyer and Nilsson Samuelsson, Office for Urban Planning and Mobility
- Duration: 2 hours
- Meeting point: Thomas-Müntzer-Platz
- Book online or via the visitor service of the Museums of the City of Dresden on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
Dance theatre: the same – similar – different
Youth Art School workshop week at the Palitzschhof
A workshop organised by the Youth Art School in collaboration with the City Museum
Through dance theatre improvisation and the artworks, the children will work together to create a dance theatre piece and perform it at the end of the workshop.
On the first day of the workshop, the children will visit the City Museum, take a guided tour and gather initial ideas and impressions from the »Platte Ost / West« exhibition.
- Age: Children aged 10 and over
- Dates:
Tue 13 Oct 2026 | 10 am – 12 noon
Wed 14 Oct 2026 – Fri 16 Oct 2026 | 10 am – 3 pm - Cost: €120
- Venue:
Youth Art School at Palitzschhof
Gamigstraße 24
01239 Dresden - Register at www.jks-dresden.de
Visual Arts / Printmaking: Uniformity and Diversity
Youth Art School workshop week at the Palitzschhof
A workshop organised by the Youth Art School in collaboration with the City Museum
This workshop explores prefabricated housing through printmaking, drawing inspiration from the artworks displayed on the prefabricated buildings in the Prohlis district. The children will learn about the multicoloured relief printing technique known as the «lost plate» and devise a cutting and colour scheme for their own design.
On the first day of the workshop, the children will visit the City Museum, take a guided tour and gather initial ideas and impressions from the »Platte Ost / West« exhibition.
- Age: 8 to 12 years
- Duration:
Tue 13 Oct 2026 | 10.00–12.00
Wed 14 Oct 2026 – Fri 16 Oct 2026 | 10.00–15.00 - Cost: €120
- Venue:
Youth Art School at Palitzschhof
Gamigstraße 24
01239 Dresden - Register at www.jks-dresden.de
Record frustration: From GDR submissions to rap and riots after 1990
A discussion with Prof. Johannes Schütz and Nils Werner, featuring film clips
Once sought-after as modern housing, life in these housing estates was shaped by the bureaucratic economy of scarcity in the GDR and, later, by the profound upheavals of the post-reunification era.
This event examines the drastic change in the image of East German housing estates. We look at the GDR’s official ‘culture of petitioning’ – citizens’ attempts to rectify the shortcomings of everyday life through written complaints – and the period after 1990. At that time, frustration over dashed hopes and a lack of prospects often gave rise to a new dynamic, a radicalisation, particularly among young people. Why was this the case?
PD Dr Johannes Schütz works as a contemporary historian at TU Dresden and at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History (ZZF) in Potsdam. His research focuses on everyday culture in the late GDR and the emergence of racist structures of violence during the period of transformation in East Germany. Most recent publication: Heimat als soziale Praxis. Alltagshandeln in Sachsen zwischen Staatssozialismus und Umbruchserfahrungen, 1969–2000, Bielefeld 2026.
Nils Werner works as a freelance director and screenwriter. In documentary film projects for ARD and MDR, such as the award-winning production»Generation Crash – Wir Ost-Millennials’ or the historical reconstruction ‘Hoyerswerda ’91’, he documents the life experiences of young people in East Germany following the social upheaval.
Fig.: Still from the documentary “Generation Crash” – A cinematic search for traces with the rapper and author (“Nullerjahre”) Hendrik Bolz in his former neighbourhood of Knieper West in Stralsund
Your plaster cast!
Holiday workshop
Become a builder and design your very own piece of the city! Create your own mini concrete slab using liquid plaster. Before the plaster sets, it’s time to add some colour! Decorate your slab with colourful stones, glittering sand and mosaic tiles. Whether it’s a colourful block of flats or a stylish pattern – you decide what the »Platte« of the future will look like.
- Age: 6 to 13 years
- Duration: 2 hours
- Cost: €5 per child
- Book online or via the visitor services department at the Museums of the City of Dresden on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
The Reconstruction of Dresden’s Hauptstraße, 1975–1989: A Dialogue between Historic Urban Structures and GDR »Platten« Modernism
Neighbourhood walk
Dr Klausjürgen Schöler and Dr Wolfgang Steinbrück discuss the reconstruction of Dresden’s Hauptstraße during the GDR era whilst taking a walk from the Golden Rider to Albertplatz. The two architects, who were responsible for planning the northern section at the time, speak as eyewitnesses about their work. The focus is on their approach to combining the area’s historic urban planning with modern architecture and the design of open spaces. In doing so, they explain the urban planning and functional concepts, present the individual sections and discuss the construction conditions specific to Dresden’s industrial building methods at the time.
With Dr Klausjürgen Schöler and Dr Wolfgang Steinbrück
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the Golden Rider
- Book online or via the visitor services department of the Museums of the City of Dresden on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
LEGO® Workshop: Building (and rebuilding) with «Platten» – We’re transforming skyscrapers!
Holiday workshop with the ZfBK
At the City Museum, we’ll discover prefabricated blocks of flats – buildings made up of lots of identical concrete slabs, which were built in many towns and cities. Afterwards, using LEGO® bricks and plenty of imagination, you’ll transform one of these blocks of flats and its surroundings into new, vibrant living spaces! All the ideas will then be displayed in a small exhibition.
- Age: 8 to 11 years
- Duration: 3 hours
- Cost: €6 per child
- Book online or via the visitor services desk at the City of Dresden Museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
Your plaster cast!
Holiday workshop
Become a builder and design your very own piece of the city! Create your own mini concrete slab using liquid plaster. Before the plaster sets, it’s time to add some colour! Decorate your slab with colourful stones, glittering sand and mosaic tiles. Whether it’s a colourful block of flats or a stylish pattern – you decide what the »Platte« of the future will look like.
- Age: 6 to 13 years
- Duration: 2 hours
- Cost: €5 per child
- Book online or via the visitor services department at the Museums of the City of Dresden on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
Director’s Tour: »Platte EAST/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
- Book online or via the visitor services department of Dresden’s museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
Presentation of the photographic documentary ‘Gorbitz’ by Christine Starke
Book launch at the special exhibition
Photographer Christine Starke presents her 1989 photo album on the Gorbitz new-build estate.
The work documents a residential building through medium-format black-and-white photographs. The album is notable for its elaborate design, featuring a variety of fold-out sections that guide the viewer’s gaze from the outside in and from the basement to the roof. The photographs depict the architecture, the residents and their living environment in what was then a newly built housing complex.
The photo album is currently on display in the special exhibition ‘Platte Ost / West’; it will be taken out of the display case for the event.
About the photographer:
Christine Starke (born in 1951 in Dresden) has been working as a freelance photographer since 1985, specialising in portrait, documentary and architectural photography.
- Museum admission
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
Art at the Reick Combined Heat and Power Plant: Heinz Drache & Siegfried Schade
Tour of the combined heat and power plant
Today’s Reick CHP plant houses two works of art that are not normally open to the public: a monumental mural (1976) by Heinz Drache in the control room and ceramic reliefs (1989) by Siegfried Schade from the former canteen. These works also depict prefabricated buildings – yet the depictions vary greatly, making them a reflection of their time.
With commentary by Dr Claudia Quiring (Dresden City Museum) and Tino Kuhnke (SachsenEnergie) on the content and the subsequent handling of the works.
- SachsenEnergie Combined Heat and Power Plant Dresden-Reick
Liebstädter Straße 1
01277 Dresden - Register online or via the visitor service of the Dresden City Museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon – Fri)
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
Album for Advent
Family Afternoon
14:00 – 18:00
Spend the Saturday before the first Sunday in Advent at our exhibition and get ready for the festive season. Here, you can make a whole host of little treats for your loved ones yourself.
Get creative with baking, making jewellery, printing on fabric bags or cushions, or creating your own gift wrap.
You can experience all this and more with us on the day. And in our museum café, cakes and hot chocolate await you, so you can refuel for your next craft adventures.
- Ages: 6 to 99
- Museum admission
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
The gingerbread tray never smells sweeter than at Christmas…
Family workshop
At the City Museum, everything currently revolves around prefabricated housing. In our workshop, we’re bringing the »Platte« into the festive Christmas season: using gingerbread dough, we’ll create standardised gingerbread »Platten«, which will be baked and then decorated with icing, nuts and colourful sprinkles. Whether to enjoy yourself or as a unique Christmas present – here, architecture becomes delicious!
- Duration: 2 hours
- Age: 3 to 99 years (max. two accompanying adults per child)
- Museum admission
- Book online or via the visitor services department of Dresden’s museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
Guided tour: »Platte« EAST/WEST. Living and building using the large-panel construction method
Guided tour of the special exhibition
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Meeting point at the ticket office
- Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
- No booking required
Exhibition offers
A house from the factory!
Interactive tour for primary schools
What are prefabricated buildings? And what is actually special about them? In the City Museum's special exhibition, you can find out how this type of construction came about and why there are so many prefabricated buildings.
Primary school KU [ Kl. 1-4. LB 1], [ Kl. 1-2. WB 2], [Kl. 4 LB 2, WB 2], SU [Kl. 2-4 LB 5]
€5 per person, accompanying persons receive free admission
Practical modules can be booked to build on the tour.
about the exhibition
Practical Module 2: Your plaster casts!
Bookable only in combination with the ‘A House from the Factory!’ tour
Become a master builder and design your very own piece of the city! Create your own mini concrete slab using liquid plaster. Before the plaster sets, it’s time to add some colour! Decorate your »Platte« with colourful stones, glittering sand and mosaic tiles. Whether it’s a colourful block of flats or a stylish pattern – you decide what the »Platte« of the future will look like.
KU Primary School [Years 1–4, LB 1], [Years 1–2, WB 2], [Year 4, LB 2, WB 2], SU [Years 2–4, LB 5] WE [Years 1–2, LB 3], [Year 3, WB 3]
€1 per person; accompanying adults get free entry
to the exhibition
Living space "Platte" – Building and living in East and West
Educational programme for secondary schools and grammar schools
The event focuses on the development of prefabricated housing in East and West Germany. What characterises prefabricated housing? What is in its favour? What are the arguments against it? What is it like to live in prefabricated housing? And what potential does this type of construction have in the future?
After a brief introduction to the exhibition, the pupils work independently in small groups on selected key topics and exhibits.
Secondary school [Year 7 KU LB 2] [Year 8 KU LB 2] [Year 9 KU LB 2] [Year 10 KU LB2] [Year 9 GE WB] [Year 10 GE WB]
Grammar school [Year 7 KU LB 2] [Year 8 KU LB 2] [Year 11/12 KU GK LB 2] [Year 11/12 KU GK WB 11/12 KU GK WB 2] [Kl. 11/12 KU LK LB 2] [Kl. 11/12 KU LK WB 2] [Kl. 10 GE LB 2] [Kl. 10 GE WB 2] [Kl. 10 GE WB 3] [Kl. 11/12 GE GK LB 3][Kl. 11 GE LK LB 1] [cl. 11 GE LK LB 2] [cl. 12 Geo GK LB 4] [cl. 12 Geo LK LB 6]
€5 per person, accompanying persons receive free admission
Practical modules can be booked to build on the tour.
to the exhibition
Practical module 1: More than concrete – slab production
Can only be booked in combination with the interactive tour or the event "Lebensraum Platte - Bauen und Wohnen in Ost und West "
How does a slab factory actually work? How are concrete slabs made? What materials are used? And how can the slabs be decorated? In the museum workshop, pupils try out various casting and finishing techniques with plaster in order to develop an understanding of the manufacturing processes and the materiality of the components.
Oberschule [Kl. 7 KU LB 2] [Kl. 8 KU LB 2]
Gymnasium [Kl. 7 KU LB 2] [Kl. 8 KU LB 2]
€1 per person, accompanying persons receive free admission
to the exhibition
Practical module 2: More than grey walls – panel design
Bookable only in combination with the interactive tour or the event "Lebensraum Platte - Bauen und Wohnen in Ost und West "
Not all prefabricated buildings are grey and monotonous. Components are often creatively designed: "Platte" slabs have textures and patterns, they are coloured or decorated with coloured ceramic tiles. Moulded concrete blocks characterise facades, walls and terraces with their geometric shapes. In the museum workshop, pupils experiment with different techniques and materials to creatively design "Platte".
Oberschule [Kl. 7 KU LB 2] [Kl. 8 KU LB 2]
Gymnasium [Kl. 7 KU LB 2] [Kl. 8 KU LB 2]
1 € per person, accompanying persons receive free admission
to the exhibition
Guided tours for blind and visually impaired people through the City Museum’s permanent and temporary exhibitions
The Dresden City Museum offers descriptive guided tours of the permanent exhibition and special exhibitions. Our trained guides will help you discover the highlights of the collection using all your senses.
Tactile exhibits: specially selected exhibits and models designed for tactile exploration.
Personalised support: We adapt to your needs and pace.
Service: Accompanying persons are very welcome; guide dogs are, of course, permitted to accompany you.
Please direct any enquiries to the visitor services department of the Dresden City Museums on +49 351 488 7272 or at service@museen-dresden.de.
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