"The Most Successful Exhibition of the Weimar Republic" — Matinee with Silke Fehlemann at the Hygiene Museum on October 25

On October 25, 2026, at 11 a.m., the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden will host a matinee featuring our colleague PD Dr. Silke Fehlemann and Dr. Matthis Krischel (Düsseldorf) on the exchange of knowledge between Dresden and Düsseldorf at the GeSoLei in 1926.

One hundred years ago, Düsseldorf hosted the largest exhibition of the Weimar Republic. With 7.5 million visitors, the GeSoLei (Great Exhibition of Health Care, Social Welfare, and Physical Exercise) was far more successful than expected.

In the run-up to the exhibition, there was intensive cooperation between the organizers in Düsseldorf and the Hygiene Museum. The International Hygiene Exhibition (Dresden 1911) served as an important model. The exhibition section “The Human Being” in Düsseldorf showcased all aspects of the human body known at the time with spectacular exhibits. Under the direction of Martin Vogel, the Academic Director of the DHMD, the “transparent human” was presented here as the precursor to the internationally renowned “glass human.” The exhibition section “Genetics and Racial Hygiene (Eugenics)” was also significantly shaped by Dresden; numerous renowned experts of the time contributed to it.

During the matinee, this collaboration between Dresden and Düsseldorf will be illustrated using numerous contemporary images from the exhibition. The focus will be on the personal networks between the two cities, exemplified by three individuals: Arthur Schlossmann, a pediatrician and university professor active in both cities; Marta Fraenkel, who first served as the scientific secretary-general of the GeSoLei and later as executive director of the 2nd International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden; and the architect Wilhelm Kreis, who designed the permanent structures for the GeSoLei and the DHMD building. Together, they fostered a vibrant exchange of knowledge between Saxony and the Rhineland.