Katharina Gaenssler
UP!
September 20 – October 13, 2025
Simulation of the installation UP! by Katharina Gaenssler in front of DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam. © Katharina Gaenssler
From 20 September, artist Katharina Gaenssler (*1974, Munich) will activate the outdoor area of DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam with a temporary installation. For three weeks, a six-meter-tall, vividly colored balloon—illuminated from within at night—will soar above DAS MINSK’s terrace, visible from afar as a sculptural image-object. Not as an flying object, but as a social sculpture.
The work UP! recalls one of the GDR’s most spectacular escape stories: the homemade hot-air balloon used by the Strelzyk and Wetzel families to cross the inner-German border into the Federal Republic. Gaenssler draws on an iconicevent of German history and transforms the balloon into an unmistakable symbol that connects memory and the present.
“I’m interested in the balloon as a visual vessel for democracy and freedom,” Gaenssler explains. “In a moment of extreme danger and a life-threatening decision, the Strelzyk and Wetzel families created what has since become a colorful, iconic image—one that we can now use as a symbol of democracy. The fact that the balloon can symbolically travel back into what was once the GDR today without putting anyone at risk is, for me, a powerful image of hope and freedom.”
From Flying Object to Social Space
With UP!, Gaenssler transforms a historic means of escape into a public artwork. Using documentary technical drawings and fabric analyses, Gaenssler has created a color- and scale-accurate version of the balloon in order to come as close as possible to the original, which was made of umbrella silk, taffeta, and bed linen. As an art installation the balloon becomes a symbol of self-empowerment and the strength of collective action.
As in many of the artist’s works, translation into different forms plays a key role in this installation: at the end of the exhibition, the balloon casing will be recycled and transformed into a mobile seating sculpture for DAS MINSK. The upcycling process is an integral part of the artistic concept: a symbol of escape becomes a space of encounter and community—now permanently located in the building’s public space.
"The balloon represents the power of dreams and collective action,” says DAS MINSK’s director Anna Schneider. “The fact that both families managed to build this gigantic flying object without being noticed and succeeded in their daring escape to the West remains incredible. Katharina Gaenssler’s installation pays homage to this historic escape story, but goes beyond it, inviting us to reflect on current sociopolitical issues. Today, this search for freedom, community, flight, and exile poses great challenges for many people and we urgently need spaces to engage with these topics. As a temporary artistic installation at DAS MINSK in Potsdam, it encourages us to dream together and trust in our own capacity to effect change. I hope it will also lift DAS MINSK a few centimeters higher!"
Art, History, and Accountability
UP! also invites renewed engagement with the art history of the former GDR, in which motifs of flight—whether through balloons, aircrafts, birds, or the multi-faceted figure of Icarus—frequently appeared. In East German painting, for example, the Icarus motif held an ambivalent meaning: on the one hand it symbolized socialist progress; on the other, it served as an allegory for the pursuit of freedom and self-determination. In this sense, the installation connects with DAS MINSK’s collection and history, opening it up to contemporary perspectives. UP! encourages reflections on both historical and current movements of flight and migration, as well as on democracy, courage, and social solidarity.
A multi-faceted public program will accompany the installation over the course of three weeks. Workshops for children, film screenings, an artist talk, and DJ sets open various points of access to the work and create space for exchange, creativity, and reflection. The program invites visitors of all ages to engage with the artistic and social themes of the installation. A particular highlight: On 27 September DAS MINSK will celebrate its third anniversary—and warmly welcomes everyone to join in celebrating this special occasion together.
The escape balloon that landed near Naila in 1979 (seen here in Hof, 1985, at an airfield festival). © Günter Wetzel
UP! is on loan from the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte in Regensburg, where Gaenssler won an art-in-architecture competition with the project. Since 2024, a scaled-down replica of the escape balloon has risen above the museum on selected days throughout the year.