WerkRaum Wiesbaden

Dreh Dein Ding

DREH DEIN DING demonstrates how design can make the transition to a circular economy easier. Rather than trying to persuade people, the project creates simple, practical ways to repair, share and pass on everyday items.

Wiesbaden is already home to a wide range of initiatives that support these practices. DREH DEIN DING brings them together under one shared identity, increases their visibility, strengthens connections between them and develops new ideas where they can add real value. The result is a local ecosystem that helps residents find the services they need while increasing the reach and impact of the organisations involved. The project has been co-created with citizens, community initiatives, businesses and the city administration, and is delivered through a growing network of partners.

Project components

Read more below.

The City of Things

• A web app featuring more than 1,000 local places for repair, borrowing, reuse, sharing and second-hand shopping
• Vintage shopping tours on the Komoot hiking app
• Repair and reuse QR codes in shops and at recycling centres
• STOPFBAR – visible mending workshops
• Wonderfully Found – rescued garments presented in a photographic series by Daniel Stier

The Neighbourhood of Things

• A public neighbourhood sharing cabinet
• A neighbourhood book exchange

The House of Things

• Borrowing stickers for apartment buildings, making it easier for neighbours to lend and borrow everyday items

DREH DEIN DING is not a campaign but a public service. Following the pilot phase, the brand and its project components will be made available free of charge as open-source resources, enabling other municipalities to adapt and implement them in their own communities.

Circular-Experience.org develops services for the circular economy. New Order Design is a strategic design agency. Studio Peter Post × Petra Esveld creates brands for the civil society.

Project partners: City of Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden Environmental Agency, WerkRaum, ELW Municipal Waste Management, Makerspace Wiesbaden, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, GWW Housing Association, as well as Judith Allgäuer, Daniel Stier, Verena Kipp, Alex Wenz, Birgit Reiman, Jan-Micha Gamer and Lisa Post.

Private Sharing Box

Many books are read only once before being stored indefinitely or thrown away. While public book exchange cabinets already exist, they are not suitable for every location.

DREH DEIN DING has developed a compact book exchange box specifically designed for front gardens and private properties. It creates opportunities for sharing books directly within neighbourhoods. The first prototype was developed together with Makerspace Wiesbaden and is currently being tested at WerkRaum Wiesbaden. It will then be installed permanently in the Dichterviertel neighbourhood. The construction plans will be published online as open source and made available free of charge.

By: Makerspace Wiesbaden e.V. (Prototype), Studio Peter Post × Petra Esveld (Design)

Fabelhaft Gefunden – Exhibition

Used clothing is often perceived as waste. Yet an analysis of waste bags collected at a textile recycling container in Wiesbaden showed that around 80% of the garments were still wearable, many of them of surprisingly high quality. How can the lasting value of these clothes be made visible in an attractive and inspiring way?

For this project, DREH DEIN DING collaborated with internationally renowned photographer Daniel Stier. Best known for photographing personalities such as Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich and creating fashion editorials for brands including Prada and Chanel, Stier turned his lens on garments rescued from textile recycling containers—presenting them as iconic fashion pieces.

The resulting photographs are exhibited as large-format prints at WerkRaum Wiesbaden and are also used across social media and as postcards throughout the city. They invite people to see second-hand clothing with fresh eyes—not as discarded garments, but as their next favourite pieces.

By: Daniel Stier (Photography), Carsten Riffel (Photo Prints, piCta Visuelle Kommunikation), Judith Allgäuer (Garment Collection), Studio Peter Post and Petra Esveld (Coordination).

Wiesbadener StadtTeilschrank

Too many good-quality clothes end up in textile recycling bins even though they could be worn for many more years. At the same time, there are too few simple, accessible opportunities for people to exchange clothing free of charge.

The Wiesbadener StadtTeilschrank provides a public space where clothes can be left and taken by anyone – with no registration and no fees. Wiesbaden's first exchange cabinet opened in May 2026 at the WerkRaum Wiesbaden with a community fashion show and has been well used ever since. A second location in the public realm is currently in development.

By: Judith Allgäuer (Initiator and Cabinet Steward), WerkRaum Wiesbaden (Pilot Location), Svenja Bickert-Appleby, New Order Design (Coordination), Studio Peter Post × Petra Esveld (Communication).

Vintage Shopping Tours

Wiesbaden offers a wide range of second-hand opportunities, yet many of them remain largely invisible. Most people are simply unaware of how many options already exist across the city.

The Vintage Shopping Tours bring together second-hand shops for the first time in curated city routes. Instead of discovering individual stores by chance, visitors can explore a variety of destinations on a single walk—from fashion, books and furniture to art and cultural venues. The first route through Wiesbaden’s city centre has been published on the hiking and walking app Komoot. Additional themed tours are planned.

By: Verena Kipp (Curator)