Curator-led tour with Petra Göllnitz through the special exhibition “You Think We Were Different”

Curator Petra Göllnitz guides visitors through the special exhibition of the same name at the Kunstmuseum Ahrenshoop. For the exhibition, she has compiled more than 200 photographs—images from East and West dating from 1945 to 1989 that tell of the differences, transitions, and similarities between German ways of life on either side of the former inner-German border. During the tour, Petra Göllnitz will explain her curatorial concepts, the selection of photographs, and the stories behind the images. She will also be available to answer visitors’ questions.

Born in Chemnitz and now living in Hamburg, the curator and journalist brings an unusual biographical perspective to the project. She grew up in Karl-Marx-Stadt, studied cultural studies, ran an artists’ club in Berlin, and worked as a freelancer for the DEFA documentary film studio before becoming photo editor of the magazine *Das Magazin*. Starting in 1990, as photo editor of *Stern* in Hamburg, she shaped the magazine’s visual direction. Since 2019, she has been working as a freelance curator and producer—creating exhibitions that make German-German history accessible, free of clichés, and often humorous.

The exhibition “You Think We Were Different: Photographs from East and West, 1945–1989” is on view at the Kunstmuseum Ahrenshoop through September 20, 2026, and is supported by, among others, the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS. Kehrer Verlag is publishing an accompanying book for the exhibition with texts by Annett Gröschner, Christoph Tannert, Hans-Hermann Klare, and Petra Göllnitz. The guided tour is aimed at anyone interested in photography, German-German history, and the question of what unites and divides us—both visitors and locals in the Baltic resort of Ahrenshoop.