Berlin plant. Stunde Null

An exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the “Kollektivplan” urban development plan. The exhibition project Berlin plant. Stunde Null at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) reconstructs and contextualizes the historic 1946 exhibition Berlin plant – Erster Bericht, which introduced the so-called Kollektivplan for the reconstruction of Berlin after World War II to a broad public. In its 80th anniversary year, the exhibition highlights the uniqueness and relevance of the plan, which was developed under the direction of Hans Scharoun.

With 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.

Opening: June 5, 2026, 7 p.m.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the n.b.k. is presenting a film program featuring “rubble films” in cooperation with the Babylon; a one-day symposium will also take place on June 20 at the silent green Kulturquartier.

Discussion Program

June 11 – August 2, 2026
Film program at the Babylon
Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, 10178 Berlin
Berlin 1945 – Diary of a Metropolis, Part II (Volker Heise, 2020); The Murderers Are Among Us (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946); Imaginary Architecture – The Architect Hans Scharoun (Hartmut Bitomsky, 1995); A Foreign Affair (Billy Wilder, 1948); Germany in the Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini, 1948); The Zero Hour (Edgar Reitz, 1977)
With discussions and lectures by Michael Baute, Volker Heise, Edgar Reitz, and Margarethe von Trotta

Symposium will take place at the silent green Kulturquartier.

1 p.m.
A Plan Like No Other Before It. The 1946 Collective Plan and the Exhibition Project “Berlin Plans.” An Initial Report as a Recollection and Invitation to Dialogue
Introduction by Hansjörg Schneider, artist, Berlin

1:30 p.m.
berlin (1993)
Poem by Michael Augustin, author, Bremen

2 p.m.
Urban Planning in the Context of Non-Utopian Postwar Orders: Hans Scharoun’s Unrealized Urban Ideals for Berlin and Walter Gropius’ Abandoned Plan for the Redevelopment of Frankfurt/Main
Lecture by Greg Castillo, Professor of Architecture at the College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley

2:30 p.m.
The Reception of the 1946 Collective Plan in East and West
Lecture by Simone Hain, Professor of History of Architecture and Planning, Berlin

3 p.m.
Urban Development and Planning at the Bauhaus (Bauhaus, MASCH, and CIAM Analysis of Berlin)
Lecture by Andrea Contursi, Architect and Researcher, studio_MMSD, Düren

4 p.m.
The Collective. Biographical Networks
Lecture by Simone Hain, Professor of Architectural and Planning History, Berlin

4:30 p.m.
Green Berlin. The Urban-Landscape Concept of Reinhold Lingner and the Collective Plan
Lecture by Axel Zutz, Landscape Architect, Garden and Planning Historian, Berlin

5 p.m.
Hans Scharoun. Building for Democracy – Shaping an Open Society
Lecture by Ralf Bock, architect and author, BauWerkStadt, Vienna

5:30 p.m.
The Lingering Influence of the Collective Plan on Urban Planning in the GDR up to the General Development Plan for Berlin / GDR
Lecture by Christina Lindemann, architect and urban planner, Werkstadt, Berlin

6:15 p.m.
P.L.A.N. (How do we plan in the Anthropocene? How do we plan in Berlin?)
Discussion with Simone Hain (Professor of History of Architecture and Planning, Berlin), Christa Kamleithner (architectural historian and cultural studies scholar, Art History Institute at the University of Zurich), Philipp Oswalt (Professor of Architectural Theory and Design, University of Kassel)
Moderator: Thomas Flierl (architectural and planning historian, Berlin)