The sgraffiti no longer visible in the vestibule are in fact the result of diploma projects by two students of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1955. They were supported by the now world-renowned painter Gerhard Richter, who would also submit a diploma project for display at the Hygiene-Museum just one year later – namely the mural entitled Lebensfreude [Joie de Vivre], which today is on show in the south foyer stairwell following its partial uncovering.

The scenes depicted in the sgraffiti take up themes relating to health, prevention and healthy living, which played a pivotal role in the Museum's exhibition remit. The motifs refer to East Germany’s political guiding principle of collectivism and feature idealised images of a socialist society.

In the third picture, Rudolf Sitte depicts occupational health & safety in East Germany. Doctors were often assigned to companies on a permanent basis and conducted regular check-ups and vaccination campaigns. In the fourth picture, Sitte shows both parents at work. Back then, children were often cared for full-time in nurseries and kindergartens from the age of just a few months.

Rudolf Sitte (1922 – 2009) was a brother of the renowned painter Willi Sitte. In 1958, he became a founding member of the Kunst am Bau [art-in- architecture] visual artists’ production co-operative. He worked at the University of Industrial Design in Halle, Burg Giebichenstein, until 1975. From 1981 to 1987, he held the professorship in architecture-based artistic design at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.