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Enabling Dialogues between Art and History

DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam
Enabling Dialogues between Art and History

DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam, Outside view of the building, October 2024 © DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam, Photo: Ladislav Zajac

Key Facts

Focus Area

Art + Culture

Active since

2022

News

Oscar Murillo, A song to a tearful garden, part of the 36th São Paulo Biennial, Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice, Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, September 6, 2025–January 11, 2026. Courtesy of the artist © Oscar Murillo. Photo: Reinis Lismanis

14 March – 9 August 2026

Oscar Murillo. Collective Osmosis

From 14.03.2026 renowned contemporary artist Oscar Murillo will take over the spaces at DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam with his project Collective Osmosis, a celebration of mark-making creating moments of exchange between his paintings, installation works, and the work of Claude Monet.

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Past Meets Future

Once a popular terrace restaurant and now a vibrant space for art and culture, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam connects the past, present, and future. Within its distinct architecture, artworks from the former GDR, which are part of the Hasso Plattner Collection, are placed in dialogue with contemporary positions.

As such, DAS MINSK is a vibrant venue for inspiration and creativity. It hosts exhibitions as well as readings, workshops, concerts, and performances, creating a space for exchange and encounter.

Website

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  • DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam, Outside view of the building, July 2023 © DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam, Photo: Stefan Wieland

  • View of the terrace restaurant “Minsk“, 1980 © Wohnungsbaukombinat, Courtesy Sammlung Landeshauptstadt Potsdam/Dokumentation Stadtentwicklung, Photo: Heidemarie Milkert

Testimonials

  • “For many people in Potsdam, the building is associated with happy memories. The architecture from the time of the GDR is part of the city’s history and I want to give the place back to the people of Potsdam.”

    Prof. Hasso Plattner

    Founder and Patron

  • “Looking around, I realized that this is not just a place to look at art. Rather, I am standing in the middle of a complete work of art called ‘Minsk.’ The interweaving of modern architecture, the collection, custody, and care of art, and the opportunity to perform various artistic activities in workshops under professional guidance, in addition to deepening one’s knowledge -– you can do all that here.”

    Wilfried Friedrich

    Visitor

  • “It is not only the great history of GDR art that DAS MINSK tells but also the many small stories of conflict and togetherness, of self-image and perception of the other. (...) There is no false nostalgia in the new MINSK. Plattner’s longing, his enthusiasm for the art of the GDR takes it out of the niche in which it had been stuck for so long. At DAS MINSK, it is born for the second time. And looks at us questioningly.”

    Hanno Rauterberg

    Journalist, DIE ZEIT

The Museum

  • Terrace restaurant “Minsk“ with Flowers, 1987 © Landeshauptstadt Potsdam, Photo: Vera Futterlieb

The former terrace restaurant “Minsk” was built in the 1970s in the modernist GDR style and evokes memories for many Potsdam residents. After the fall of the GDR, the restaurant closed its doors, and the building fell into disrepair. Local citizens prevented the demolition plans and in 2019 the Hasso Plattner Foundation purchased “das Minsk” to refurbish it and make it accessible to the public once more.

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The same year, renovations began to preserve the charm of the old “Minsk” and revitalize its distinct architecture. The café, the terrace, and the foyer of DAS MINSK can be accessed beyond the visit to the exhibitions.

DAS MINSK showcases works from the Hasso Plattner Collection that were created after 1945, with a focus on artists from the former GDR. Among the artists represented are Wolfgang Mattheuer, Willi Sitte, Gudrun Brüne, Hartwig Ebersbach, Bernhard Heisig, Peter Herrmann, Martin Kippenberger, Stefan Plenkers, Erika Stürmer-Alex, Werner Tübke, and Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt.

  • DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam, Cafébar HEDWIG, 2022. © DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam; Photo: Ladislav Zajac

  • DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam, Cafébar HEDWIG, 2022. © DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam; Photo: Ladislav Zajac

The Future at DAS MINSK

The exhibitions at DAS MINSK will continue to focus on revealing new perspectives on art from the GDR. The exhibition "IN DIALOGUE – Hasso Plattner Collection: Art from the GDR" provided the occasion for curator Daniel Milnes to conduct a new series of studio conversations with artists from the collection. The exhibition "WOHNKOMPLEX: Art and Life in Plattnebau" showcased the East German plattenbau (industrialized apartment blocks) in art through installations, paintings, drawings, photographs, and films from the 1970s to the present. 

  • Credits: Installation view of the exhibition IN DIALOGUE – Hasso Plattner Collection: Art from the GDR, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam 2025. © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025; Courtesy of Núria Quevedo, Photo: Jens Ziehe

  • Credits: Installation view of the exhibition IN DIALOGUE – Hasso Plattner Collection: Art from the GDR, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam 2025. © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025; Courtesy of Gerhard Richter, Photo: Jens Ziehe

  • Visitors in the exhibition "Wohnkomplex. Art and Life in Plattenbau" at DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam. Photo: Lee Everett Thieler

  • Katharina Gaenssler, installation view of the work UP!, 2024 / 2025, in front of DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam. Courtesy of Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte Regensburg, Photo: Jens Ziehe

  • Katharina Gaenssler, installation view of the work UP!, 2024 / 2025, in front of DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam. Courtesy of Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte Regensburg, Photo: Jens Ziehe.

Milestones

We focus our resources on long-term projects where we believe that we can make a difference. Our aim is to ensure that our philanthropic activities have a lasting positive impact on the people and organizations we work with. This requires time, perseverance, and an entrepreneurial mindset. 

More Projects in Art + Culture

As part of this focus area, the Foundation supports additional initiatives, including:

Contact

Dr. Julian Fischer

Program Manager Art and Culture

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