East and West German design classics over 40 years

The sturdy folding plastic chair the "Senftenberger Ei," designed by Hungarian-born Peter Ghyczy in 1968, achieved cult status in the 1990s. Also known as the garden egg chair, it is among the 390 exhibits featuring iconic furniture and lighting, graphics and fashion, as well as jewelry and vehicle designs on display at the Kunsthalle in the Lipsius Building of the Dresden State Art Collections.

The exhibition follows the most important political events from 1949 to 1989: from reconstruction and new beginnings after the war, to the different visions of West and East German society, to the crises and protests in the 1970s and 1980s. The exhibition organizers say that design was also a tool for the formation of identity in both the German states.

The iconic Z chair, designed in West Germany in 1971 by product designer Ernst Moeckl, is still considered a 20th century classic. From 1973, the plastic cantilevered chair was manufactured in East Germany, but was discontinued at some point — only to be rediscovered by a company in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, which started making the Z chair again in 2020.

The 1967 RK 5 "Sensit" music system is an East German design classic. The Dresden show juxtaposes the design of both German states "at eye level," according to Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) director Thomas A. Geisler. The show presents a fascinating variety of design styles and positions, Geisler says, it doesn't just pinpoint "ideological contrasts between East and West."

East and West German design history: Luigi Colani designed the "Drop" tea service for the traditional Rosenthal porcelain manufacturer in 1971. Design history is mirrored to "establish the overall picture of German design and its values," according to the exhibition organizers.

From East or from West Germany? Visitors won't be able to immediately distinguish where the objects on display were designed. The pastel-colored plastic trays and bowls in this photo look contemporary, but they date back to a 1959 design by Albert Krause, a designer from the East German city of Halle.

To this day, how people view German design between 1949 and 1989 is characterized by "antagonisms between the East and West as well as related cliches," says Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum. "The exhibition shows that reality was more complex," and that there were many connections. The stainless steel two finger ring (1986, photo) was designed by Rainer Schuhmann.

Although the systems may have differed for decades, the exhibition (15.10.21-20.2.22) shows how closely design, contemporary history and everyday culture were intertwined in a divided Germany. This East German lamp was created in the 1960s. The show is to go abroad next year after its first stop in Weil am Rhein and now at the Dresden museum. Museums in Europe and Asia have also shown interest.