Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Everyday Life Before Everything Changed: 1980s Photos From East Germany, By Henk Kosche (16 Pics)
All About Photo proudly presents Street Photography At The End Of The 80s by German photographer Henk Kosche — an evocative solo exhibition available online throughout July 2025.
For nearly 40 years, a small cardboard box of 35mm negatives quietly held images of life in Halle an der Saale, an industrial city in the former East Germany. Captured just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kosche’s black-and-white photographs reveal a world suspended between resilience and resignation, grit and beauty.
These rediscovered treasures bring to life a city cloaked in smoke from factories and power plants, where everyday moments tell stories of quiet strength amid uncertainty. Kosche’s lens offers an intimate glimpse into a society on the brink of monumental change — moments frozen before Western consumerism reshaped the urban landscape forever.
Discover these compelling images and the silent poetry of a transforming era — only on All About Photo this July.
More info: all-about-photo.com | hko.photography | Instagram | Facebook
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Walking The Cat, May 1988
Street Photography At The End Of The 80s is more than a nostalgic trip; it’s a poignant testament to photography’s power to preserve history’s unseen layers and reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary.
RELATED:
#2
Family At The Window, March 1989
#3
Pensioner, February 1988
#4
Mobile Kiosk, September 1988
#5
Cyclist, November 1988
Andrew Burke 5 months ago
This still looks the same today. In fact the building on the left looks worse. It's in Halle: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cg4vfq22bcQeLuZv5
#7
Couple In Front Of The Department Store, March 1989
Hippopotamuses 5 months ago
It might be partly due to the black and white photography, but this scene looks throughly depressing.
#8
They Have Weelbarrows, 1987
Glen Ellyn 5 months ago
She's clairvoyant and getting ready to help clean up rubble from the wall.
#10
At The Milcheck, February 1988
trollingergirl 5 months ago
Just for your information - it is Milch-Eck.... milk-corner... has nothing to do with mil-check, as one might want to read it in english, probably.
#11
Propaganda Material, May 1987
Jrog 5 months ago (edited)
DEWAG (Deutsche Werbe und Anzeigengesellschaft) was the state-owned advertising agency" for East Germany. They were the major advertising agency (propagandamittel means "advertising agency, not "propaganda material") in the country, and worked both on commercial advertising, event promotion, for the SED(the major party) and for state-sponsored propaganda.
#12
Discussing The Job, October 1988
#13
Carpenter For Grave Furiture, May 1988
#14
Grosse Gosenstrasse, 1988
Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Bianca 5 months ago (edited)
I was in East Berlin on a school trip during the eighties. It looked as if it was drained of colours. It was very intresting with visits to the Pergamonmuseum and the zoo. But I vividly remember crossing the border and the way the customs officer stared at my passport and at me. I remember bying books with the money I had to change.
Trillian 5 months ago
We went right after the wall came down and it was like you time-travelled 30 years into the past.
Load More Replies...
Sal DeLuca 5 months ago
Went to East Berlin in 1969 to visit a friend of one of my college professors. I still remember the "sights" - rubble from destroyed buildings everywhere, traffic lights that didn't work because there were no cars, hardly any pedestrians. But what really got me was our host saying that outside of your own living space, you don't say anything against the government because you never knew who might report you.
Bianca 5 months ago (edited)
I was in East Berlin on a school trip during the eighties. It looked as if it was drained of colours. It was very intresting with visits to the Pergamonmuseum and the zoo. But I vividly remember crossing the border and the way the customs officer stared at my passport and at me. I remember bying books with the money I had to change.
Trillian 5 months ago
We went right after the wall came down and it was like you time-travelled 30 years into the past.
Load More Replies... Sal DeLuca 5 months ago
Went to East Berlin in 1969 to visit a friend of one of my college professors. I still remember the "sights" - rubble from destroyed buildings everywhere, traffic lights that didn't work because there were no cars, hardly any pedestrians. But what really got me was our host saying that outside of your own living space, you don't say anything against the government because you never knew who might report you.
You May Like 50 AI Art Fails That Are Both Horrifying And Hilarious 40 Famous Paintings That Changed Art Forever And Cost A Fortune Doing It 64 Of The Most Famous Photographers In History
Eglė Bliabaitė
Viktorija Strelciunaite
Viltė Domkutė
Related on Bored Panda
