Marklin Moderne : From Architecture to Assembly Kit and Back Again

The architecture of model railway systems in the German post-war economic boom was surprisingly modern. New stood next to old, high-rises and half-timbered buildings coexisted peacefully. Still today the famous 'Villa in Tessin', high-rises, gas stations, and train and administrative buildings of the post-war period connect generations throughout Germany. Marklin Moderne shows for the first time how enthusiastic the nostalgic model railway builders truly were for modernism. The exhibition and catalogue present model assembly kits and the real buildings that inspired them, and thus bring the architecture and model construction history of the post-war period together. Includes texts by Daniel Bartetzko, Karin Berkemann, Oliver Elser, and Christian Holl, and interviews with Falk Jaeger and Klaus Staeck, among others. Photographs are by Hagen Stier. The exhibition by the online magazine moderneREGIONAL opens on 18th of May 2018 in the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt am Main and will be shown simultaneously in the Architekturgalerie am Weissenhof in Stuttgart. The exhibition will be accompanied by a film by Otto Schweitzer. Text in English and German.