Displacement – Expropriation – New Beginnings
December 3, 2025 – January 10, 2026
Family Businesses in Eastern Germany from 1945 to the Present
- Exhibition in the Old Paint Shop at the Garagen-Campus Chemnitz
- Exhibition hours: according to office hours
- Opening: Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 6:00 PM
- Finissage: Friday, January 10, 2026, 11:00 AM
Invitation to the Exhibition Opening
What does it mean for an economy when its landscape of family-owned businesses—built over generations—is destroyed?
The history of the GDR vividly illustrates the consequences: from the discrimination against private ownership under the SED regime, to the criminal prosecution of entrepreneurs, and finally to the complete nationalization of industrial family enterprises in 1972.
All of this caused lasting economic and social damage.
Only after the peaceful revolution of 1989 and the restoration of German unity could the rebuilding of small and medium-sized enterprises begin in Eastern Germany.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, an impressive process of reconstruction has taken place, leading to partial reindustrialization.
Family businesses have played a central role in this development: today, they account for 92 percent of all companies in the eastern German states.
About the Exhibition
The central thread of the exhibition is a series of portraits of family businesses that document their histories, setbacks, and new beginnings.
Exhibits, documents, products, press articles, and interviews tell stories of entrepreneurial spirit, perseverance, and reconstruction since 1945.
The exhibition is curated under the scientific direction of Berlin-based economic historian Dr. Rainer Karlsch.
The Foundation for Family Businesses presents this traveling exhibition, which in Chemnitz is expanded with additional materials highlighting local contexts.
Documents from the Stasi Records Archive shed light on the 1972 campaign, revealing the ideological background of state arbitrariness and expropriation.
Opening Event – December 3, 2025, 6:00 PM
Venue: Alte Lackiererei (Old Paint Shop), Garagen-Campus Chemnitz
Welcome:
- Pastor Holger Bartsch, Office for the European Capital of Culture, KBZ Chemnitz
Greetings:
- Dr. Sebastian Liebold, IHK Chemnitz
- Ralph Burghart, Deputy Mayor for Finance, City of Chemnitz
- Dr. Sebastian Benz, Head of Research and Programs, Foundation for Family Businesses
Panel Discussion:
“Family Businesses in Eastern Germany: Transformations and New Beginnings since 1945”
Musical Accompaniment:
- Marius Marx (violin) and Carsten Klobe (piano)
Following the event: Reception and exhibition tour
Exhibition Dates
- December 3 – December 19, 2025: open
- December 20, 2025 – January 4, 2026: closed
- January 5 – January 9, 2026: open
- Finissage: January 10, 2026, 11:00 AM