[1] In October 1949 the German Democratic Republic was formally launched out of what had previously been better known as the Soviet occupation zone, although the basis for a return to one-party government had already been set in place with the creation of a ruling party back in 1946: in reality building the new country was an iterative process lasting many years, and involving a necessarily massive building boom.

He was employed as department head with Berlin's "VEB Development Project Support" organisation ("Bauprojektbetreuung Groß-Berlin") and with its various successor entities.

[1] Graffunder is remembered, in particular, for the impact of his work on the north-eastern part of Berlin,[3] but he also received commissions from outside the German Democratic Republic.

[5] After reunification the building was no longer needed for this purpose and refurbishment attempts were hampered by the discovery of large quantities of asbestos in its construction.

[1] He also took a post, initially in 1984 as a guest lecturer and subsequently with a full-time professorship of Design Theory, at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus.

His most ambitious proposal involved positioning a new four level block building in front of the Palace, copying the facade of the original and connecting the two with glass and steel walkways, creating a new unified structure.

In 2004, to mark the tenth anniversary of his death, a small park was named after Heinz Graffunder, on the site of a former apartment block that he had designed.