New distance vision at GRASSI Leipzig

The GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts is of outstanding importance for all lovers of sophisticated arts and crafts. Following the closure of the MK&G fair in Hamburg, the annual Grassimesse on the last weekend in October (2025 on October 24–26) has become even more important. However, it should not be forgotten that the museum area on Johannisplatz, close to the city center, is home of two other museums: the Museum of Ethnography and the University of Leipzig’s Museum of Musical Instruments. And since the beginning of 2025, there has been a spectacular new exhibition space.

The walk-in staircase sculpture Open City in the GRASSI museum by Leipzig artist Thomas Moecker. © GRASSI

On August 9, the GRASSI Heaven will inaugurate the almost five-meter-high, walk-in staircase sculpture „Offene Stadt” (Open City) by Leipzig artist Thomas Moecker. Visitors can climb up to the roof of the museum and look out over Johannisplatz toward downtown Leipzig.

In addition, the exhibition “Leipzig 1972” with photographs by Ute Eskildsen and Timm Rautert will open on August 9, 2025, also in the GRASSI Heaven. The staircase sculpture and photo exhibition are free of charge and can be visited during the museum’s opening hours.

The GRASSI Heaven

In the spacious main staircase of the Grassi Museum, visitors ascend from the ground floor to the third floor, passing the unique window glass by Bauhaus master Josef Albers (1888–1976). In 1929, when the museum opened, the third floor was used as an exhibition space. In the prehistoric section of what was then the Museum of Ethnology, the “Borna Mammoth” welcomed visitors. Walled up in the post-war decades, this area was reclaimed during the renovation of the Grassi Museum between 2000 and 2005 and then used by the GRASSI Museum of Ethnology to display a jewelry collection.

After that, new ideas were needed. The aim was to make the building’s unique architecture even more tangible and to use the communal space of the three museums for different projects. This was quite a challenge for this almost square room with its enormous ceiling height of 6.50 meters, which has since been called the GRASSI sky.

Staircase sculpture „Open City“

With a view to giving the space a stronger architectural and artistic design, the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts sought to collaborate with Leipzig artist Thomas Moecker. The museum had already worked with him on the redesign of the café foyer and the interior design of several special exhibitions, such as “Bauhaus Saxony” and “From Bonnard to Klemke” . Thomas Moecker’s idea of a free-standing, approximately five-meter-high staircase sculpture radically transforms the space. This

independent artistic object “Open City” offers a new perspective on the museum as an intellectual and spatial entity. Eighteen steps lead up to a small viewing platform. While visitors to the museum have little view of the outside world, from here they can see across the museum’s courtyard and Johannisplatz to (almost) Augustusplatz. Standing on the staircase sculpture, you are directly beneath the “golden pineapple” that adorns the museum roof. The base of the staircase sculpture serves as a seat. Catalogues and information material are available here. The “Open City” is a permanent and freely accessible presentation for all guests.

Photo exhibition “Leipzig 1972”

The second photo exhibition at GRASSI Himmel will open on August 9, 2025, with the presentation of the photo series “Leipzig 1972” by Ute Eskildsen and Timm Rautert. Around 50 works by the photographer couple will be on display until November 30, 2025. Ute Eskildsen and Timm Rautert roamed the city of Leipzig with their cameras while visiting relatives in 1972.

Prefabricated apartment blocks and Trabants. One of the photos taken by Ute Eskildsen and Timm Rautert in Leipzig, 1972.

Photograph by Ute Eskildsen and Timm Rautert Leipzig, Neumarkt, 1972.

Their black-and-white photographs focus on everyday situations of people in their surroundings. At the time, the couple planned to publish the photo series as an exhibition and a book. It has taken over fifty years to realize this project. Now, a publication accompanying the exhibition is available from Steidl Verlag and can be purchased in the museum shop.

Admission to the exhibition at GRASSI Himmel is free of charge.