Next to Eisenhüttenstadt, Hoyerswerda-Neustadt and Schwedt, Halle-Neustadt is one of the four cities founded during the GDR period. Following the model of ‹aesthetics through density›, a modern satellite city for chemical workers and students was built here in the 1960s. Accentuated by high-rises, the planned city for 90,000 inhabitants is distinguished by better than average architecture and conceptual innovations, like its own education centre with a club canteen, its own culture park on the Peißnitz island, and diverse experimental structures, i.a. for ‹variable living› in the P2.12 housing type.

On the 20th anniversary of the laying of the foundation-stone, the assembly of city councillors decided in 1984 to give it its own coat-of-arms. The strong red background was to refer to the roots of the city in the ideals of the workers' movement, while the opening bud stood for both the quality of life and the forward-looking concept of the city. The golden key with the benzene ring symbolised living in a city of chemical workers and highlighted with the red star in the key bit the close ties between Halle-Neustadt and Halle.

After German unification, a local referendum united Halle-Neustadt with Halle. Characterised by a high vacancy rate and demolitions, Halle-Neustadt celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Within the context of a dramatic shrinking process in East Germany and using Neustadt as an example, numerous cultural initiatives take this as a further occasion to discuss questions of the future and thematize the way in which modernist buildings are dealt with. Halle-Neustadt's main train station is currently threatened by its imminent demolition.

The excursion leads to different neighbourhood initiatives and cultural projects that are right now actively committed to Halle-Neustand and its inhabitants, and conveys historical knowledge on the urban development of this city that was design in the tradition of Bauhaus.

Invited participants are: Bürgerladen e.V., Begegnungsstätte, Halle-Neustadt, Jeannette Dorff, Stadtteilbüro Halle-Neustadt, Begegnungsstätte ‹Dornrößchen›, Halle-Neustadt, Simone Hain, Architkekturhistorikerin, Berlin, Projekt Hotel Neustadt, Thalia Theater Halle, Kultur/Block e.V., Halle, Projekt Neustart-Xenos, Halle-Neustadt, Margit Sachtlebe, Stadtplanungsamt Halle