Everyone knows Kino International. One of East Berlin’s iconic buildings, it stands on Karl-Marx-Allee alongside its siblings, Mokka-Milch-Eisbar and Café Moskau. They were designed (among others) by architect Josef Kaiser. His work is now the subject of the exhibition Building for the GDR at the Berlinische Galerie.
In the BG’s central exhibition room, visitors are greeted by an unconventional architectural model: Tracey Snelling has taken on his Grosshügelhaus, Kaiser’s grand vision for GDR housing developments.
Across roughly 200 square meters, the show traces Kaiser’s work through original plans, collages, photos, models and films, much of it drawn from his estate, which only recently became accessible. The pastel-painted exhibition room opens with his early neoclassical designs, including the Maxhütte cultural center in Unterwellenborn. Kaiser’s original design drew on the modernism of Mart Stam and Hans Poelzig, but it was rejected by the GDR leadership and ultimately built in an altered form.
Next comes the architectural upheaval of the ’50s and ’60s. Together with Werner Dutschke and Edmund Collein, Kaiser developed what is now known as the second construction phase of the former Stalinallee, today’s Karl-Marx-Allee. Here, standardized building elements and serial construction methods merged with a new, modern formal language. Kino International, Café Moskau and Hotel Berolina are among the best-known buildings from this phase.
One of the most beautiful parts of this architect’s exhibition is the designs that were never realized, or only partially so. These include large-scale studies for the socialist city, megastructures, and designs for special buildings such as the Friedrichstadtpalast and the Palace of the Republic, as well as projects beyond Berlin.
In doing so, the exhibition tells the story of the conditions under which architecture was made in the GDR. Kaiser worked for many years within fixed collectives and state structures; the projects shown are therefore listed under his name without attributing sole authorship to him. After 1990, some of his best-known buildings were demolished or heavily altered. Others are now protected as historic landmarks. The Mokka-Milch-Eisbar, for instance, reopened this year, unfortunately with a rather questionable interior renovation. Anyone who wants to see it in person can join the Karl-Marx-Allee architecture tours held as part of the exhibition.
Three contemporary positions round out the view of Kaiser’s work: Veronika Kellndorfer engages with Café Moskau, Karsten Konrad with the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Tracey Snelling, as mentioned above, with Kaiser’s visions of the socialist city. In this way, the show builds a bridge to the present and asks: How do we handle our architectural heritage and the political ideas embedded within it?
Text: Inga Krumme / Credits: Rolf Vetter, Karl-Marx-Allee between Alexanderplatz and Strausberger Platz, 1970, © IRS Erkner, Photo: Rolf Vetter; Josef Kaiser, Zeichnung des Kino Kosmos, undated, © Berlinische Galerie, Digitalisat: A. E. Witte; Schnepp Renou, Kino International, 2026, Draft: Kollektiv Josef Kaiser © Schnepp Renou
Berlinische Galerie, Alte Jakobstr.124–128, 10969 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Josef Kaiser: Building for the GDR 28.08.2026–01.02.2027.
As part of the exhibition, architecture tours will take place on Karl-Marx-Allee on 25.09. & 16.10.2026, 13–15h.
@berlinischegalerie
