To address the urgent need for living space, the GDR government began to focus on industrial construction based on prefabricated concrete slabs, the so-called Plattenbau, in the mid-1950s. New housing areas were erected on the outskirts of the cities; modern amenities made these apartments quite popular.<\/p>\n
One of the last large developments to be built in East Berlin was Neu-Hohensch\u00f6nhausen, with Erich Honecker himself laying the foundation stone in February 1984. Many of the apartment buildings were ready for their new tenants as early as 1987\u2014the high-rise at Zingster Stra\u00dfe 25 counted among these.<\/p>\n
Three decades later, the artist Sonya Sch\u00f6nberger inquired what had become of the buildings\u2019 original tenants. Who still lives there? Who has since moved in?<\/p>\n
Based on interviews, the stories in this book offer a glimpse into different everyday realities, interconnected through the outer shell of the Platte. They tell, in a very personal way, of daily life in the GDR, of the change of the political systems, and of the present day in reunified Germany.<\/p>\n
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Leseprobe (pdf):<\/p>\n