The Mushroom and the Cloud

Using the example of the Soviet-German uranium mining company Wismut, the exhibition "The Mushroom and the Cloud" examines how nuclear extractivism shaped spatial thinking and action in the 20th century. It invites visitors to explore together how these developments—as part of a larger nuclear constellation—related to and ultimately transcended the political confrontations of the Cold War.

At the beginning of the Cold War, Soviet geologists who arrived in occupied German territories with the Red Army discovered mineable uranium deposits, known as "pitchblende," in the old silver mines of the Ore Mountains. This discovery gave the Soviet Union access to the radioactive material it needed to develop its own nuclear weapons arsenal. The first Soviet atomic bomb, made with German uranium, was successfully tested in 1949. This paved the way for the nuclear arms race and marked the beginning of the atomic age.

The presence of this strategic raw material transformed the Soviet-occupied regions of Saxony and Thuringia into sites of intensive mining, operated by the Soviet-German uranium mining company Wismut. Soon, the newly founded German Democratic Republic (GDR) became the main supplier of uranium for the Soviet nuclear program and one of the world's leading producers of uranium ore.

Soviet nuclear extractivism in the GDR reflected global patterns of spatial transformation, such as those caused by industrial extractivism worldwide. The scale, pace, and intensity of these transformations were often amplified by the strategic demands of the Soviet military-industrial complex. Wismut's spatial structures were shaped by the ideological imperatives of the Cold War and the nature of the radioactive material, while also reflecting local specificities.

Opening: September 23, 2025, 6 p.m.