The idea of a socialist city is usually connected with prefabricated tower blocks and functionalist neighbourhoods, which conspicuously align with socialist principles such as equal housing standards and modern, efficient construction. However, in the German Democratic Republic, as in many other socialist countries, this model was increasingly questioned since the 1970s, giving way not only to experiments of postmodern design, but also to postmodern urban development principles. These include redesigning the city centres as domiciles for privileged groups and places for consumption and tourism.

My presentation will show that such apparently “un-socialist” principles in the 1980s gradually became part of East Germany’s official policy. This is evidenced, for example, by the postmodern residences in the centres of Rostock and Halle, by the re-invented old town Nikolaiviertel in East Berlin, and by consumption and entertainment venues such as the variety theatre Friedrichstadt Palace and the unrealized shopping mall Friedrichstadt Arcades in East Berlin.

I argue that this unexpected change can only partially be explained by Cold War rivalry and the on-going desire to impress the capitalist competitors west of the Berlin Wall. In addition, much suggests that urban development in East Germany throughout its history was not first and foremost driven by “socialism,” but rather by cultural dispositions that developed and changed along with those in the West.