November 6, 2025
7 PM

In her lecture, Dr. Anna-Lena Wenzel recalls the writer Werner Bräunig, who moved to Halle-Neustadt in 1968. As a working-class writer, he accompanied the construction of the new prefabricated city—while also struggling with the system because his novel Rummelplatz could not be published (it was only published posthumously in 2007). He died prematurely in 1976 at the age of 43. By the time of German reunification, the great promise associated with Halle-Neustadt had since evaporated. Many residents moved away, and traces of vacancy and demolition marked the cityscape. What does Halle-Neustadt look like today? Anna-Lena Wenzel searches for parallels in these two “biographies” and attempts to question entrenched narratives.

Dr. Anna-Lena Wenzel is an author and curator. She has been working regularly in Halle-Neustadt since 2018 and most recently conducted research on communication channels in the district. She published her research on Werner Bräunig in the publication Auf den Spuren Werner Bräunigs in Halle-Neustadt [Traces of Werner Bräuning in Halle-Neustadt]. She participated in the wohn_komplex Festival and the Festival Osten in 2024 and runs the online city magazine 99% Urban.

The event ticket includes admission to the exhibition from 5 PM onwards. The event is held in German.