How does a comic from the GDR remain alive for decades? What creates the myth surrounding the Mosaik magazines and their creator? And what role do the fans play in all of this?

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Johannes Hegenbarth – better known under his pen name Hannes Hegen – and 70 years after the publication of the first Mosaik issue, the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig once again invites you on a journey into the colourful adventure world of the Digedags.

This compact gallery exhibition tells the story of an artist who, with intelligence, inventiveness, and persistence, carved out creative freedom – right in the middle of the state-controlled cultural landscape of the GDR. In more than 200 stories, Hegen sent his characters travelling through space and time. For over two decades, he succeeded in keeping Mosaik largely independent in terms of content and finances – as only a few managed to do under socialism.

The exhibition sheds light on Hannes Hegen’s early work with the start of his studies in Leipzig in 1947, the height of his success from the mid-1950s together with the Mosaik collective, and his retreat into private life after breaking with the FDJ publishing house Junge Welt and his team in 1975.

A special focus of the exhibition is fan culture. Insights into the scene reveal that enthusiasm for Mosaik remains unbroken to this day. For the first time, a fan group was part of the exhibition team, co-curating one section and contributing unusual loans such as a detailed cardboard reconstruction of “Burg Rübenstein” (Rübenstein castle) and rare fanzines from the 1990s.