DDR Museum

History told in a lively, interactive and hands-on fashion. The DDR Museum in Berlin tells the story of every-day life in a long-past state, looking “behind the wall” to understand just what it was like to live under Real Existing Socialism. Visitors are invited to make new discoveries about this now defunct state. Covering a number of topics in a playful fashion, the visitor is encouraged to reconsider established clichés. Since its extension in October 2010, the DDR Museum now provides almost double the experience, enabling the visitor to see, experience and feel the every-day reality behind the façade of the Socialist dictatorship, and find out just what the government tried to keep secret.  more »

There is a lot for the visitor to do, with interaction as the key word: watch television in an authentic GDR living room or rummage through the drawers of an original Karat wall unit. The spice rack in the kitchen recreates the scent of thirty years ago, whilst the pressure cooker occupies the same place on the stove. A number of installations bring the GDR to life: sitting in original GDR cinema seats to watch original news reels, replaying the 1974 West vs. East Germany Football World Cup game on the football table, or dancing the Lipsi. Striding through the “bureaucratic smokescreen,” the visitor receives a glimpse into the structures of GDR misrule. Under the watchful eyes of Marx, Engels and Lenin, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany provides the central focus of the exhibition, around which are grouped a number of themes such as the state, economy, the NPA, brother states, ideology, opposition and the Stasi. The interactive elements provide the central information regarding every topic.  more »

Countless interactive media stations and authentic artefacts from the GDR constitute our prize-winning approach of a “hands-on approach to history.” Visitors are encouraged to engage with the interactive elements of the exhibition, opening drawers, looking behind doors and pulling levers, thereby making use of all their senses. The unique interactive elements of the exhibition demonstrate just what pressures and influences made up everyday life in Real Existing Socialism. State-of-the-art media stations and touch screens enable the visitor to understand the principles of the political system in a playful fashion. Original film material and reconstructed sound installations make history come to life. more »

An appetite worked up in the museum can be satisfied in the newly-opened DDR-Restaurant Domklause. Located in almost exactly the same location as the former Palasthotel, the restaurant now provides his guests with original GDR delicacies such as a Goldbroiler, Jägerschnitzel, Soljanka or Steak au four. A tasty experience of history!  more »

For more information visit www.ddr-museum.de