Secret shipments across the Baltic Sea

40 Years of the Mukran Ferry Terminal

Geheimtransporte über die Ostsee

East German propaganda spoke in flowery terms of a “bridge of friendship to Lenin’s homeland” when the GDR’s largest transportation project was inaugurated on October 2, 1986. East Berlin and Moscow had created one of the most important strategic links of the Cold War under the strictest secrecy. The world’s most efficient railway ferries connected the GDR directly with the Soviet Union every 48 hours, bypassing Poland. Wolfgang Klietz has researched the history of this connection between Mukran and Klaipėda (Memel) and will piece together a comprehensive picture of it this evening with many new photos.

In cooperation with the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst

Lecture with discussion

Wolfgang Klietz, journalist, Hamburg

Christoph Meißner, Research Associate, Museum Berlin-Karlshorst

Moderator: Sören Marotz, Exhibition Director, DDR Museum

Next date:

• Date Wednesday, 28/October/2026 18:00 bis 20:00
• Venue DDR Museum Berlin
• Address Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 1, 10178 Berlin-Mitte