Capsule containing the deeds from the foundation stone on Lange Strasse, Rostock

• Cardboard
• Rostock
• 1953

Rostock Museum received a copy of the capsule and the deeds from the foundation stone on Lange Strasse as a document of the reconstruction efforts undertaken by the German Democratic Republic. The GDR Reconstruction Act selected Rostock and eight other sites as 'cities of reconstruction' in 1950. The 'central principles of urban development', which draw heavily on the style of Soviet architecture, provide the underlying concept for the planned reconstruction. The focal point is a central square situated between Kröpeliner Tor and the city port, connected to Neuer Markt by the expanded main thoroughfare of Lange Strasse. The GDR government approves the zoning plan for the square in 1952. At the same time, Lange Strasse acquires a special importance as 'Rostock's first socialist road'.

Joachim Näther's revised layout based on plans for Stalinallee in Berlin is used to complete construction. Any respect for the established cityscape and the historical street fronts is abandoned entirely, and preserved sections of Lange Strasse and the new maritime administration office are torn down. The foundation stone is laid on 30 January 1953. The SED Politburo orders that the street be widened to 60 metres and that buildings with towers be added on either end. The Council of Ministers approves the plans for the central square in August 1953. The plan is abandoned in its entirety in 1956 following increasingly vociferous criticism of the National Reconstruction Programme and the disregard for historical urban spaces, which gradually builds after 17 June 1953. Nevertheless, the last gabled houses on the north side of Neuer Markt are demolished in 1959. The remaining sections of St Jacob's Church are destroyed in 1960, although the ruin is designated a heritage site.