Starting with works from the Bauhaus movement, founded in 1919, including pieces by Marcel Breuer, Mies van der Rohe, Christian Dell and other key representatives of the movement, the collection presents a representative overview of the international design world, from functionalism to pop art the Memphis movement and current design products.

The creative variety of shapes and materials used since the 1950s is illustrated impressively in an extensive chair collection, including classic pieces by Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Charles and Ray Eames, Vico Magristretti and Egon Eiermann, who taught at Karlsruhe University for many years, among others. The exhibition contains chairs by Jasper Morrison, Fernando and Umberto Campana as well as by Konstantin Grcic as representatives of modern design.