OSTEN Festival – Art and Mutual Interest

A Festival That Takes the East Seriously

The OSTEN Festival is one of the most politically ambitious cultural projects in Central Germany. Initiated by Kulturpark e.V. in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, it has been exploring the question of how art and society can converge in the structural transformation of the East since 2023. Between the GDR prefabricated buildings of Wolfen-Nord and the decommissioned Zschornewitz coal-fired power plant, a festival will emerge for 16 days in September, aiming to be a shared space for thought rather than spectacle.

Here, you will experience theatre productions, performances, concerts, readings, discussions, and excursions — all closely intertwined with the themes of energy, work, transformation, and identity. The format is deliberately accessible: 'AfD voters are welcome' was once the headline for the festival in Freitag newspaper, and the artistic direction takes this claim seriously. Not only the Berlin cultural audience is invited, but explicitly the residents of Bitterfeld-Wolfen and the Anhalt region.

Industrial Culture Meets Bauhaus Heritage

The former Zschornewitz Power Plant was once Germany's first large-scale power station and at times the largest lignite-fired power plant in the world. Today, it is an industrial monument and a festival venue. Bitterfeld-Wolfen itself is located in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in the state of Saxony-Anhalt — a region that oscillates between Bauhaus heritage (Dessau), the film industry (Wolfen-Film), chemical industry, and structural change like few others. The OSTEN Festival uses this ambivalence as its program.