The myth of prefabricated buildings - dreams of living in concrete:
Today they are considered a nightmare and a social focal point, but for many Germans moving into a prefabricated building was once a happy day - in East and West.


Everyone remembers their time in the block: thin walls, little space, but also neighborly cooperation. In the West, enthusiasm for the large settlements evaporates quickly, because here they are considered soulless and ugly.

Both German states campaigned aggressively for satellite cities and prefabricated buildings in the 1960s and 1970s: They are modern and comfortable, they say, and are considered a secret weapon against the rampant housing shortage. In the GDR, the housing problem is even a top priority. In 1971, Erich Honecker made a serious promise: Three million new apartments were to be built by 1990. In fact, the housing program is actually finished two years earlier than planned. But the costs are enormous and have a decisive share in the financial decline of the GDR.

It tells the eventful history of the prefabricated housing estates and shows the reality behind the state-sponsored concrete living dreams.