DAS MINSK

Zeiten

ZEITEN is a dynamic platform for the history of the terrace restaurant “Minsk.” Despite their different functions, parallels can be drawn between the former restaurant and the present-day MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam. DAS MINSK remains a place of encounter, between people and with art. A focus of the institution is the encounter with art from the former GDR and contemporary art.

ZEITEN delves into the building’s history, reconstructing it in order to preserve it for the future. The building will thereby not only be preserved as an architectural shell, but the memories experienced there will also be captured and made accessible.

The project begins with an audio collage, for which the cultural journalist and documentary film director Sylvie Kürsten went on a journey through time together with contemporary witnesses of the old “Minsk”. A continuously evolving image gallery also shows the building at different times throughout its history.

ZEITEN will continue to expand in various presentation formats. In addition to the voices of contemporary witnesses of the old “Minsk,” ZEITEN will also include artistic interventions that look at the history of the building.

Stairway in the “Minsk,” no date © Photo: Andreas Klaer, Courtesy PNN

Stairway in DAS MINSK, 2023 © Photo: Ladislav Zajac, Courtesy DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam

Visitors entered the dining room of the terrace restaurant “Minsk” via a large, freestanding staircase in the foyer. In GDR times, the wall behind the staircase was covered with a tapestry showing the Minsk cityscape in stylized form. The contemporary Regine Rüss still remembers well how she stood in line in front of these stairs:

“So, when you came up to the ‘Minsk,’ there was a coat check on the first floor, if I remember correctly, and in front of the stairs leading upstairs, there was a rope, so you couldn’t get through at first. That is to say, you had to register, you had to pay admission, if you got a place there at all—you were taken to your seat. And then at some point, someone would come and pick you up at this rope and take you upstairs to the seat that the waiter or waitress would assign.”

A similar staircase can still be found today at DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam; however, the wall is now decorated with tiles from the HB-Werkstätten für Keramik in Marwitz. The wall tiles from the series “Dynamo” were originally designed for the Sportforum in Berlin, which was built between 1955 and 1959 (1). In Potsdam, works by the ceramicist Hedwig Bollhagen, who founded the workshops together with Heinrich Schild in 1934, can be seen in various locations. For example, she made garden dividers for the Freundschaftsinsel in 1973. Bollhagen also produced various planter basins for Sanssouci Park and shaped stones for the enclosing wall of the Roman Baths between 1964 and 1969 (2). Today, the wall tiles in DAS MINSK accompany visitors on their way to the exhibition rooms on the upper floor as well as to the café or the terrace.

Sources:
(1) Christiane Weidner, ed., Hedwig Bollhagen: Baukeramik und Baudenkmalpflege, Hedwig Bollhagen Society papers, booklet 2 (Potsdam: self-published, 2012), pp. 18–19.
(2) Gudrun Gorka-Reimus, ed., Hedwig Bollhagen: Ein Leben für die Keramik (2008). An exhibition of the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the artist in cooperation with the Hedwig Bollhagen Foundation, June 22, 2007 – January 23, 2008 (Bonn: Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, 2008), pp. 126–45.

Terrace of the “Minsk” with tables and chairs, no date © Photo: Heidemarie Milkert, Courtesy Landeshauptstadt Potsdam/Dokumentation Stadtent-wicklung / Wohnungsbaukombinat

Terrace of DAS MINSK with tables and chairs, 2023 © Photo: Ladislav Zajac, Courtesy DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam

Those who were guests at the “Minsk” could enjoy a unique view of downtown Potsdam. Through the large glass windows of the dining room or on the terrace adjacent to the bar, you could see the Interhotel, the Nikolaikirche, the Freundschaftsinsel, and many other buildings and places in GDR times. The Potsdam photographer Jürgen Strauss, who published the photo bookPotsdam in Portraits in 2004, therefore chose the restaurant as the location for the preliminary discussions with his models. Although they were all from Potsdam, most of them had not been to the city for a long time.

“That's exactly what was so nice about sitting in this place in the middle of the city, looking down on the cityscape from above. And I still remember well how people often let their eyes wander over the city and then talked to me so informally. The ‘Minsk’ was a catalyst for memories of Potsdam. You could look into the city without an obstructed view. That was really something unique.”

Although recently erected buildings partially block the unobstructed view over the city, you can still recognize landmarks from DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam: the former Interhotel, now Hotel Mercure, and the Nikolaikirche can be seen. The Institut für Lehrerbildung on Alten Markt where the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences was last located, was demolished, but the Potsdam City Palace was rebuilt. The Brandenburg state parliament now meets here. As before, the view from DAS MINSK Kunsthaus is something unique in the otherwise flat Potsdam.

Blick auf das Ensemble auf dem Brauhausberg

View of the ensemble on Brauhausberg with the swimming hall, the “Minsk,” and the SED-District Leadership (R to L), undated © Photo: Jacoby, Courtesy Landeshauptstadt Potsdam / Dokumentation Stadtentwicklung / Bauakademie der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Institut für Städtebau

Brauhausberg ensemble with fountains, adapted to the slope, on a postcard, 1979 © Photo: BEBUG / Bild und Heimat, Berlin, Courtesy Verlag Bild and Heimat, Florian Legner

Treppenaufgang zur SED-Bezirksleitung hinter dem Minsk

Stairway to the SED district leadership offices behind the “Minsk,” 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Rear view of building, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Front view with the red brick and mosaic band above the entrance of the “Minsk,” 1990s © Photo and Courtesy: Rolf Wienecke

Entrance with rosette, which is based on the Minsk city gate, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Black and white photo of the interior of the former Minsk restaurant with set tables but no guests yet. Wide wooden panels and wooden designs decorate the wall.

Dining room with bog oak panels, undated © Photo: Heidemarie Milkert, Courtesy Landeshauptstadt Potsdam / Dokumentation Stadtentwicklung / Wohnungsbaukombinat

Kellnerinnen bei einer Feier im Gastraum

Servers at a party in the dining room, 1990s © Photo and Courtesy: Rolf Wienecke

Dining room, 1990s © Photo and Courtesy: Rolf Wienecke

Pub on the ground floor, 1990s © Photo and Courtesy: Rolf Wienecke

Black and white photo of the dining room of the former Minsk with set tables but still empty upholstered chairs. Tall windows open up a wide view over Potsdam.

Dining room with panorama view of Potsdam, undated © Photo: Heidemarie Milkert, Courtesy Landeshauptstadt Potsdam / Dokumentation Stadtentwicklung / Wohnungsbaukombinat

View from the entrance to downtown Potsdam, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

View from the entrance to downtown Potsdam facing Interhotel and Nikolaikirche, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

View of the entrance to the “Minsk” during its vacancy, undated © Photo and courtesy: Peter Michael Brauers

Rear view of the “Minsk” during its vacancy © Photo and Courtesy: Peter Michael Brauers

View of the stairs in the entry way of “Minsk” during its vacancy, undated © Photo and Courtesy: René Minolla

Brauhausberg ensemble with fountains, adapted to the slope, on a postcard, 1979 © Photo: BEBUG / Bild und Heimat, Berlin, Courtesy Verlag Bild and Heimat, Florian Legner

Stairway to the SED district leadership offices behind the “Minsk,” 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Rear view of building, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Front view with the red brick and mosaic band above the entrance of the “Minsk,” 1990s © Photo and Courtesy: Rolf Wienecke

Entrance with rosette, which is based on the Minsk city gate, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Dining room with bog oak panels, undated © Photo: Heidemarie Milkert, Courtesy Landeshauptstadt Potsdam / Dokumentation Stadtentwicklung / Wohnungsbaukombinat

Dining room with panorama view of Potsdam, undated © Photo: Heidemarie Milkert, Courtesy Landeshauptstadt Potsdam / Dokumentation Stadtentwicklung / Wohnungsbaukombinat

View from the entrance to downtown Potsdam, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

View from the entrance to downtown Potsdam facing Interhotel and Nikolaikirche, 1980 © Photo: Heinz Gerard, Courtesy Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte

Project Team ZEITEN

Idea and Concept: Aïcha Diallo, Paola Malavassi
Project Team: Ulrike Techert, Daniel Milnes, Luisa Bachmann, Judith Wildhagen, Charlotte Verleih
Communication: Natanja von Stosch, Josefine Weiß, Margarita Hermann, Simon Spannig

Starting point for the ZEITEN project was the audio feature "mein minsk - gebaut. geliebt. vergessen?", produced by Julius Deckelmann, Charlotte Verleih, Judith Wildhagen and Ivana-Elena Wirtz as a project work at Fachhochschule Potsdam in 2019.

Audio Collage

Idea and Realization: Sylvie Kürsten
Text and Editing: Sylvie Kürsten
Translation: Jesi Khadivi
German copyediting: Johanna Schindler
English copyediting: Aaron Bogart
Composition: Fabian Russ, Orchestronik, Leipzig
Sound design: Michael Kube, Mainland Media Berlin
German voice: Sylvie Kürsten
English voices: Ian Dickinson, Sylvie Kürsten, Nicola Ranson
Contemporaries in order of their appearence: Annegret Rutenberg (former waitress at the terrace restaurant “Minsk.”), Luise Fröhlich (author of the book Das Potsdamer Terrassenrestaurant »Minsk« und der Brauhausberg im Wandel der Zeit 1970-2015), Regine Rüss (former guest at the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Jörg Fröhlich (former regular at the terrace restaurant “Minsk,” author of the book Das Potsdamer Terrassenrestaurant »Minsk« und der Brauhausberg im Wandel der Zeit 1970-2015), Jürgen Strauss (former guest at the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Karl-Heinz Birkholz (architecht of the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Karin Schnoor (former guest at the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Peggy Colditz (former server at the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Rolf Wienecke (former manager of the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Dieter Hinze (former DJ at the terrace restaurant “Minsk”), Christian Rüss (former guest at the terrace restaurant “Minsk”)

Music credits

•   „Dolia,” OMFO, K/T: Traditional, Essay Recordings LC 13406
•   „Neobiknovenije Glaza,” OMFO, K/T: Traditional, Arr: German Popov, Essay Recordings LC 13406
•   „Lipsi Nr. 1,” RTO Leipzig, K: René Dubianski, Amiga 5 50 063.