News for Helmstedt's museums: Fresh logos bring a breath of fresh air!

News for Helmstedt's museums: Fresh logos bring a breath of fresh air!

A lot is currently happening in the cultural sector in the Helmstedt district. On August 13, 2025, in a celebratory presentation by District Administrator Gerhard Radeck, museum director Dr. Matthias Meinhardt and Christian Ulrich presented new logos for the Zone Border Museum and the Juleum. The step is part of a comprehensive renewal process that is intended to modernize and conceptually restructure the region's cultural offerings. The aim is to make the region's museums and collections more accessible and more attractive to the public. The process includes not only new logos, but also changes in exhibition design and public relations, which should be completed by the 40th anniversary of the opening of the border in 2029, as regionalheute.de reports.

The Zone Border Museum, which presents the history of the former inner-German border in five departments, is expected to see the majority of changes. The old logo, inspired by a watchtower, was now little more than a relic from the 1990s and was considered unoriginal. Instead, the new logo now shows the guard car of the United States Army Transportation Corps, which will be integrated into the museum's educational work in the future. This wagon symbolizes the connections between East and West that were severed by the border and will be highlighted in the upcoming permanent exhibition. The color scheme and typography of the new logo are based on the wagon to create a strong visual identity. Those interested can find out these and many other details on the official website of the Helmstedt district.

A look into the past

The reality of the inner-German border was a defining element of the post-war history of the Helmstedt district. The border stretched for around 100 kilometers and separated the Federal Republic of Germany from the German Democratic Republic, often interrupted by shocking symbols of separation such as concrete walls, barbed wire and minefields. Only a few crossings, such as the train stations near Helmstedt and Oebisfelde and the Helmstedt/Marienborn motorway crossing, allowed limited passage. While many people sought the path to freedom in the period up to the opening of the border in 1989, these stories are still almost tangible in the exhibition of the Zone Border Museum, which includes remarkable original objects and photographs that bear witness to the courageous attempts of that time. In this regard, the museum becomes an important place for historical education and remembrance work to promote understanding of the challenges and achievements of this time, as zeitklicks.de explains.

The Juleum, another important cultural center in the region, has also received a new logo. It will act as an umbrella brand for the facilities and cultural offerings within it. The design of the logo takes up the architectural form of the building and reflects the academic past as well as the current services of the library, auditorium and museum. It combines historical and modern fonts, enabling an appealing, contemporary representation of the Juleum as a cultural focal point. These new logos were developed as part of a competition in which 15 agencies took part and are intended to promote the modernization of the cultural landscape in the district, as can also be found at regionalheute.de.