Exhibition | German Design 1949–1989         Two Countries, One History

Shaped by the Bauhaus and the Werkbund, German design gained worldwide importance at the beginning of the 20th century. With the division of Germany from 1949, design and everyday culture continued to develop separately on both sides of the border - in the west as the engine of the »economic miracle«, in the east as part of it socialist planned economy. More than 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Vitra Design Museum is presenting the first major comprehensive exhibition of German-German design in the post-war period from March 20 to September 5, 2021. The exhibition “German Design 1949–1989. Two countries, one story «compares the design of the GDR and FRG at the time, highlighting ideological and design differences as well as parallels and cross-references that connected East and West. The exhibits range from iconic furniture and lights to graphics, industrial design and interior design to fashion, textiles and jewelry.