IGA '61

Erfurt’s egapark, known locally as the “garden of Thuringia” and often promoted as the state’s “most beautiful garden”, is an important example of 1960s horticultural design. The park was created between 1958 and 1961 for the “First International Horticultural Exhibition of the socialist countries”, or ‘iga’ for short. It is one of the few gardens established in the GDR that have survived to this day. Its conception was entrusted to the landscape architect Reinhold Lingner. Working in the style of post-war modernism, he designed an ensemble of flower beds, exhibition halls and pavilion buildings whose uniform composition carries through to their furnishings and interior design.