Exhibition project
Project management: Jutta Braun and Hanno Hochmuth
Funded by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship
Duration: 2026
Sport was the stage for competition during the Cold War and a bridge for growing together in reunified Germany. To mark the upcoming FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 in Berlin, the ZZF Potsdam, in cooperation with the Center for German Sports History, the Free University of Berlin, ALBA BERLIN, and the Berlin Basketball Association, will shed light on the history of this popular sport. Starting in September 2026, a multimedia exhibition at the tournament venues, the Uber Arena and the Max-Schmeling-Halle, will show the political and social dimensions of basketball between sports policy, performance, and lifestyle.
The ZZF has published two short videos about the exhibition ‘Freigespielt! Basketball before and after 1989’ on its Instagram and TikTok accounts. In them, Jutta Braun and Hanno Hochmuth provide concise and informative insights into the sport of basketball: What does sporting history have to do with contemporary history? Which was the most successful basketball club in the GDR? In which year did a new era dawn for basketball globally, and what role did street basketball play in youth culture in reunified Berlin?
In the run-up to the exhibition on the history of basketball in Berlin, the ZZF, together with its partners, hosted a public panel discussion entitled Freigespielt: Basketball Before and After 1989 on 2 September 2026 at the Berlin State Centre for Political Education.
On 17 November 2026, to accompany the exhibition entitled “What’s That Flying There? Basketball in Berlin Before and After 1989/90”, a guided tour followed by a panel discussion will take place at Tempelhof Airport. The event is part of the “Moving Labs” series organised by the Leibniz Lab “Upheavals and Transformations”.
