1945-1989

June 1945
32 musicians play concerts with conductor Gerhart Wiesenhütter in cinemas, ballrooms, factories and canteens. Many open-air concerts are also given. These are the first beginnings after the war.

November 1945
The 75th anniversary is celebrated with 84 concerts. Each concert must be authorised by the Soviet military administration or the city of Dresden.

10 December 1946
The orchestra gives its first concert in the Steinsaal of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum under Heinz Bongartz. The Steinsaal, which seats 528, is the Dresden Philharmonic's venue for the next 12 years. Heinz Bongartz was chief conductor of the DD Phil from 1947 to 1964, the longest tenure of any chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic.

You can find out more about the Steinsaal and the other venues of the Philharmonie in the GDR on our Instagram account.

Heinz Bongartz

Born in Krefeld in 1894, Heinz Bongartz studied music at the Krefeld Conservatory from 1908 to 1914. He began his professional career in 1919, initially as a choral conductor; he became opera director of the Mönchengladbach municipal theatre in 1923.

From 1924 to 1926, Bongartz was Kapellmeister of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, after which, following years as an opera conductor, he devoted himself increasingly to concerts and became General Music Director of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Here he was chief conductor from 1947 to 1963. This makes him one of the chief conductors with the longest tenure. He died in Dresden in 1978.

In 1947, Bongartz conducted the German premiere of Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

1950
The Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra is named the ‘State Orchestra of Saxony’ and is thus financially secure. From 1956, major tours abroad and numerous school concerts take place again. In the 1960s, for example, 69 concerts are given each season for 13,000 schoolchildren.

1958
The Congress Hall in the German Hygiene Museum becomes the new venue for the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. It remains there until 1969.

1959
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and the GDR, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra is the first European symphony orchestra to travel to China, where it gives 20 concerts within 40 days.

1967 - 1972
Kurt Masur becomes chief conductor. He considerably broadens and rejuvenates the repertoire. From 1994, he is honorary conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. The newly founded ‘Kurt Masur Academy’ is named after him in 2016.

On Kurt Masur's initiative, the Municipal Choir becomes the Philharmonic Choir. He also founds the Philharmonic Children's Choir.

Childhood He was born in 1927 in Brieg. At the age of 10, he received his first piano lessons from the second organist of the church in Brieg and began to play the organ. From 1942, he studied piano and violoncello for two years at the Regional Music School in Breslau. At the age of 16, he received a medical diagnosis that the little finger on his right hand could no longer be stretched, which ruled out a career as a pianist. So he decided to take up conducting instead.
Career From 1960 to 1964 he was General Music Director of the Komische Oper Berlin, from 1967 to 1972 Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, from 1970 to 1996 Gewandhauskapellmeister in Leipzig, from 1991 to 2002 Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, from 2000 to 2007 Chief Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Kurt Masur died in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 2015.

Opening of the Kulturpalast
On 7 October 1969, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the GDR, the Kulturpalast Dresden is opened after two years of construction. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is performed. The Kulturpalast is the first building of its kind in socialist culture. Even in the GDR, there had never been a building like it before. The Kipp-Parkett can be used for symphony concerts, dance events and cinema screenings and offers space for 2,400 visitors.

Want to know more?

You can find out more about the history of the Kulturpalast at: https://kulturpalast-dresden.de/en/dates-and-figures/history/

1972-1977
Günther Herbig succeeds Kurt Masur as chief conductor. 1977-1985
Herbert Kegel becomes chief conductor. 1986-1994
Jörg-Peter Weigle becomes chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra in his mid-30s.

Turnaround 1989:
4 to 20 October
The musicians are on a tour abroad in Japan. There are 10 concerts under the direction of Herbert Kegel. They hear about the events in their home country on television or by telephone from relatives, including the overthrow of State Council Chairman Erich Hoenecker on 18 October.

25 October
The celebratory concert to mark the 40th anniversary of the GDR is reorganised at short notice as a protest concert. Before the concert begins, the orchestra board reads out a statement from the orchestra.

The reunification has a number of consequences: attendance figures fall, guest performances serve to raise the orchestra's profile and reputation rather than to generate profits.