"German Design 1949–1989: Two Countries, One Story" at Vitra Design Museum

Description by Vitra Design Museum

An exhibition by the Vitra Design Museum, the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Wüstenrot Stiftung. Marked by the Bauhaus and the Werkbund, German design gained worldwide importance in the early 20th century. With the division of Germany after 1949, everyday design and culture developed differently on both sides of the border: in West Germany as the engine of the 'economic miracle', and in East Germany as part of the planned socialist economy. More than 30 years after the fall of the Wall, the Vitra Design Museum presents between March 20 and September 5, 2021, the first major joint exhibition on German-German design in the post-war period.

The exhibition "German Design 1949–1989: Two Countries, One Story" presents the design of the former GDR and FRG in direct comparison, thus bringing out the ideological and creative differences, as well as the parallels and cross-references linking East and East. West. The exhibits range from iconic furniture and lamps, through graphic works, examples of industrial design and interior design to the fields of fashion, textiles and jewellery.

Design of the RDA of cheap and multicoloured plastic, cool functionality in the FRG: the exhibition contrasts with these stereotypes a more differentiated vision. In it, you can admire not only legendary everyday objects such as a "Trabant" (1958), the so-called "vehicle for the people" of the GDR, or the sound equipment known as the "Snow White coffin" (1956) but also discoveries and curiosities, such as the sculptural «Poly-COR» (1968), a bow-shaped chair by Luigi Colani. The gaze stops on protagonists such as Dieter Rams, Egon Eiermann, Rudolf Horn or Margarete Jahny, but also on higher schools that left their mark or on the legacy of the Bauhaus school. In doing so, the exhibition unfolds for the first time a broad overview of the history of German-German design in the post-war era and makes clear how closely intertwined design and contemporary history was, as well as everyday culture and the global political context. in Cold War Germany.

The first section of the exhibition takes visitors to different scenes from divided Germany and shows what role design played in them. Already in the founding of the two new states, design contributed to creating new identities that were reflected in their different national coats of arms, coins, identity documents, and even in the famous little men at the traffic lights. Objects, such as Peter Ghyczy's "Garden Egg Chair" (1968), demonstrate that the history of design did not always run severely separate, as this futuristic armchair was produced with minimal change in both East Germany as in West Germany. The joint history of German design before World War II is also thematized since many of the designers studied together during the Weimar Republic at the Bauhaus or other higher schools. The dark chapter of National Socialism had to be overcome during the postwar period by creating links with the ideas of the modern movement, not only about design but also in terms of training.

After this introduction, the exhibition describes the history of design in the two Germanies chronologically. This started in 1949 when the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in the Western Allied occupation zones and the German Democratic Republic in the Soviet occupation zone. In both states, public housing construction programs fueled the reconstruction of the country, leading to skyrocketing demand for consumer goods - from furniture and tableware to electronics to automobiles. Everyday objects, such as Max Bill's kitchen clock (1956) or Klaus Kunis's elegant watering can (circa 1960), reflected the new fondness for home life and the growing popularity of the modern design. In both the eastern and western zones, the creation of new higher design schools, or the reopening of existing ones, pursued the objective of providing the industry with a new generation of designers, even more taking into account that design offered an excellent possibility to present itself as a modern and accessible country on the international scene. In this context, the major milestones were the reopening of the Leipzig Fair in 1946, to develop the export sector in the GDR, and the pavilion of the Federal Republic of Germany, designed by Sep Ruf and Egon Eiermann for the Universal Exhibition in Brussels in 1958.

With the construction of the Berlin Wall from August 13, 1961, a severe division was established between the GDR and the FRG. Where to date companies and designers had worked beyond any frontier, design finally became the scene of the struggle between two opposing political systems. In the FRG it became a central factor in a consumer society in which the newest furniture and car models became desired status symbols. Sketches, such as Dieter Rams' minimalist electronics for the Braun brand, highlighted the growing perception of quality and design culture. The so-called corporate identity also gained importance, as evidenced by the logo on the lips of Doris Casse-Schlüter for the city of Bonn, then the federal capital, or the graphic concept of Otl Aicher for the Olympic Games (both 1972). In the automotive sector, for example, it was the models of the manufacturer Porsche that, with their reduced lines, and despite being affordable for only a small fraction of the population, became the symbol of "Made in Germany" design, in which the aesthetics merged with the art of engineering.

In the sense of the planned socialist economy, the design of the GDR was centrally controlled. Under the auspices of the Administration for Industrial Design (Amt für Industrielle Formgestaltung), it was to contribute to the creation of inexpensive products for broad circles of the population, as well as to increase competitiveness. The principle of construction with prefabricated plates made it possible to create large-scale houses for which new furniture and interior decoration ideas were needed. In this context, Rudolf Horn's "MDW-Einbauwand" wall-shelf (1968) became very popular: this versatile modular piece of furniture quickly became an omnipresent element in the private lives of GDR citizens. The design also played an important role in public space, which the exhibition illustrates, for example, through original plans for the well-known Berlin establishment "Cafe Moskau". Works such as the recently restored relief "Die Beziehung des Menschen zu Natur und Kunst" (1982–84) by Josep Renau in Erfurt show how the widespread precept of "art in construction" defined the urban aspect in the GDR. A key role in the industrial development of the GDR was played by the "Trabant", which was to accelerate the mass motorization of citizens. With its recycled plastic body, the so-called "Trabi" is considered the cult object of East German design to this day. Its production did not stop until 1991.

With Willy Brandt's policy towards East Germany in the 1970s, the rapprochement of the two German states began, culminating in 1989 with the fall of the Wall. In this phase, design in the East and the West reflected an increasingly critical consciousness, prompted by contemporary events such as the 1973 oil crisis. At that time, economic power in the GDR was gradually diminishing, but designers showed great inventive talent. Thus, the "Mokick S50" motorcycle (1967–74), designed by Karl Clauss Dietel and Lutz Rudolph, was based on a modular principle that allowed for simple and inexpensive repair. Other creators opted for artisan techniques or small-scale art series. Especially in East Berlin, design and subculture merged in a lively scene that produced in fields such as fashion, photography, ceramics or jewellery creation a new everyday aesthetic beyond the planned industrial economy. One of the last major state projects in the GDR was the computer "PC 1715" from the manufacturer VEB Robotron (1985), which in the GDR was reserved only for state factories, administrations and universities.

The FRG also suffered the consequences of economic vicissitudes from the 1970s on but remained a pioneer at the international level in the field of industrial design. Thus, the VW Golf model launched in 1974 echoed the new one by compact and energy-efficient car models, and in the early 1980s, Steve Jobs commissioned Hartmut Esslinger and his German design agency to design one of Apple's first computers. frog. At the same time, also in the FRG, artistic and experimental trends in design were gaining importance. Groups such as Pentagon, Ginbande or Kunstflug, design galleries and experimental exhibitions defined the "new German design" in which influences from art, punk and kitsch were fused. With the political dialogue between East and West, the exchange in the field of design gradually increased. There was even a double exhibition that managed to cross the borders and in which the FRG presented its sketches in East Berlin, while the design of the GDR could be admired in Stuttgart in 1988.

After the fall of the Wall in 1989, a large part of the industrial production of the GDR was "liquidated" and many products that had marked daily life in the GDR disappeared. The exhibition "German Design 1949–1989: Two Countries, One Story" consciously presents design in the GDR and the FRG in direct and egalitarian comparison, thus also recalling little-known chapters in the history of German design. On the one hand, it illustrates the political importance of design in the Cold War era and, on the other, it reveals a fascinating variety of styles and trends that require a more nuanced vision than that of mere ideological contrasts between East and West. For the first time, postwar German design is seen as a joint history, with differences and caesura, but also with common features and interconnections.

Following the presentation at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein (20.03.2021 - 05.09.2021), the exhibition will be shown at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden between 15.10.2021 and 20.02.2022.

Within the framework of the exhibition, an extensive publication will be published with contributions from Paul Betts, Greg Castillo, Petra Eisele, Siegfried Gronert, Jana Scholze, Katharina Pfützner, Eli Rubin, Katrin Schreiter, Oliver Sukrow, Carsten Wolff among others, as well as interviews with Prem Krishnamurthy, Renate Müller, and Dieter Rams.