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6:30 PM-9:30 PM
STRUCTURAL CHANGE AS AN OPPORTUNITY?
Exhibition visit and discussion|The transformation of East Germany in images and contemporary history
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Goethe-Institut Brussels, Brussels
The social transformation in the East of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall has many facets. It is reflected in the restructuring of political structures, institutions, and social relations, and becomes visible in life stories and biographies. In the volume Vergessene Zukunft (Forgotten Future), photographer Holger Herschel captured the period of transition in several photo series, two of which – Schwarze Pumpe and Altes Eisen – are currently on view at the Goethe‑Institut Brussels.
Today, 35 years later, these images allow us to look back into a time capsule. We become witnesses to the radical transformation from a socialist planned economy to a market‑driven industrial society. Together with Holger Herschel and Dr Annette Schuhmann, historian and cultural scholar, we will explore this process — one that often demanded great adaptability from people and raises questions about the value and future of work in times of upheaval, then and now.
The experiences (…) gained from this history of transformation could set in motion a process that involves employees in strategies for addressing current crises, thereby reducing the costs of future socio‑political challenges.
(Dr. Annette Schuhmann, Vergessene Zukunft)
Programme
18:00 Entrance
18:30 Welcome speech
18:45 Conversation with Holger Herschel and Dr Annette Schuhmann, moderated by Andrea Gärtner, Office of the State of Berlin to the EU
20:00 Reception and exhibition visit with Holger Herschel
The event is a cooperation between the Goethe‑Institut Brussels, the Office of the State of Berlin to the EU, and the Representation of the State of Brandenburg to the EU.
If you are interested, please register by 1st of July.
Bio
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Holger Herschel
Photographer
Holger Herschel studied sociology at Humboldt University in Berlin and subsequently worked as a research assistant at the GDR’s Bauakademie in Berlin. Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he became a photo lab technician and later a photographer at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin. Since 1992, he has worked as a freelance photographer, primarily in the fields of heritage conservation, architecture and portraiture. The publication *Forgotten Future*, published in 2025 by Christoph Links Verlag, presents twelve of his photo series that vividly depict the transformation of East Germany.
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Dr. Annette Schuhmann
Historian and cultural studies researcher
Dr Annette Schuhmann, born in East Berlin in 1960, studied history, the history of Southern and Eastern Europe, and political science, and wrote her doctoral thesis on cultural activities in state-socialist industrial enterprises. Her research focuses on the history of industrial labour and its workers in the GDR, the computerisation of work since the 1950s, network structures in Eastern Central Europe, visual history and oral history. Her most recent book, *Wir sind anders. Wie die DDR Frauen bis heute prägt* (We Are Different: How the GDR Shapes Women to This Day), was published by Hoffmann und Campe in 2025.
Location
Rue Belliard 58
B-1040 Brussels
Belgium
Participation only after registration.
