Das Minsk

Since 2022, the new exhibition house Das Minsk on the Brauhausberg in Potsdam has been welcoming visitors. It is the latest project of the Hasso Plattner Foundation, which already opened the Museum Barberini in Potsdam's city centre in 2017.

Artistic Diversity in the GDR

The exhibitions focus on paintings and objects by renowned artists who worked in the former GDR after 1945. In the comparatively short period of life of the German Democratic Republic between the post-war years and the fall of the Wall in 1989, not only "state art" was created. The diverse artistic positions, for example the widely varying painting styles, rather show how much effort was made to find alternatives to the GDR's cultural establishment. Painting was certainly the most important medium for the artists.

A new place for works of art from the former GDR

So far, only a few museums and exhibition houses have dedicated themselves to GDR art, and the younger generation in particular is hardly aware of the works and their background. This is where the Hasso Plattner Foundation would like to make a progressive contribution.
However, art from the former German Democratic Republic should not be seen in isolation. In the Minsk, contemporary art and works from the GDR period are thus shown in changing exhibitions, but also enter into dialogue with each other.

The Minsk - a house of encounter

A former terrace restaurant, well-known and popular among Potsdam's inhabitants in GDR times, offers a suitable setting to engage with art from the former GDR, to discuss, to meet. The glass window façade of the modernist architecture and the wide paved forecourt convey a sense of generosity. Inside, the carefully restored grand spiral staircase and the rounded shapes of the bar are reminiscent of earlier glory days. 
The large café with a view, the foyer and the terrace are open to all guests regardless of whether they visit the exhibitions.

Your visit

The Minsk Kunsthaus is a five-minute walk from Potsdam's main railway station.
Parking spaces at the Kunsthaus are limited. One parking space is designated as a disabled parking space, and a wheelchair can be hired on request. There are bicycle stands to the left and right of the building.