An exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the “Kollektivplan” urban development plan.
Image gallery
Ausstellungsansicht Berlin plant, Berliner Schloss, 1946
Featuring contributions and documents by Karl Böttcher, Willy Karl (Wils) Ebert, Peter Friedrich, Ludmilla Herzenstein, Reinhold Lingner, Hans Scharoun, Luise Seitz, Selman Selmanagić, Herbert Weinberger, and others.
- Curator: Hansjörg Schneider
- Co-curators: Thomas Flierl, Simone Hain
- Reconstruction: Daniel Lordick
- Project Director: Susanne Mierzwiak
The exhibition project Berlin Plans. Zero Hour at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) reconstructs and contextualizes the historic exhibition Berlin Plans – First Report, which in 1946 presented the so-called collective plan for the reconstruction of Berlin after World War II to a broad public in the provisionally refurbished White Hall of the Berlin Palace.
On the occasion of its 80th anniversary, the relevance of this radical urban design is to be highlighted. A planning collective, commissioned by City Planning Commissioner Hans Scharoun, was responsible for the project; its inner circle included Wils Ebert, Peter Friedrich, Ludmilla Herzenstein, Reinhold Lingner, and Herbert Weinberger.
The n.b.k. commemorates this historic exhibition, which anticipated groundbreaking ecological principles of construction and pursued participatory approaches, with a walk-through reconstruction on a 1:4 scale.
On display are original plans and materials, some of which have never been published; the exhibition also reflects on the collective plan’s eventful historical reception, which oscillated between rejection, suppression, and enduring influence. Furthermore, the project addresses the discourse surrounding “Zero Hour.” This controversial term implies both the unconditional surrender and the total economic and moral collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945, as well as the hoped-for new beginning free from the burdens of the past.
Parallel to the exhibition, the n.b.k. is presenting a film program featuring “rubble films” in cooperation with the Babylon; on June 20, a one-day symposium will also take place at the silent green Kulturquartier.
Discussion Program
June 11 – August 2, 2026
Film program at the Babylon
Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, 10178 Berlin
Featuring discussions and lectures by Michael Baute, Volker Heise, Edgar Reitz, and Margarethe von Trotta
Saturday, June 20, 2026, 1:00–8:30 p.m.
Symposium at silent green Kulturquartier
Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin
Featuring Michael Augustin, Ralf Bock, Greg Castillo, Andrea Contursi, Simone Hain, Christa Kamleithner, Christina Lindemann, Philipp Oswalt, Hansjörg Schneider, and Axel Zutz, moderated by Thomas Flierl
