DDR-Museum

One element that makes the DDR museum unique is that it’s the only museum in Berlin that is privately rather than state funded.

What makes it even less typical of other museums is the overall theme. This is not only an art museum, or science museum, or a history museum. It is a museum of everyday life in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) while it was still part of the Soviet occupation.

Since opening in 2006, the DDR Museum became an overnight success and was nominated for a European Museum of the Year Award in both 2008 and 2012.

The DDR museum aims to deal with the question of what everyday life was like for the East German citizens who were cut off from the outside world by barbed wire, guard towers, and the Berlin Wall. Also, what was it like to live under constant surveillance?

Three themed areas: Public LIfe, State and Ideology, and Life in a Tower Block expands into 47 sub-topics inside the 1000 m2 permanent exhibition.

Popular exhibits include a simulated drive in an original Trabant P601 automobile, an authentic reconstruction of a five-room flat in a high-rise tower block, numerous interactive games suitable for young and old alike, the monumental fresco “In Praise of Communism”, a prison cell and a Socialist Unity Party conference table in the boardroom with a touchscreen.

The interactive, hands-on nature of the museum makes this a fun, memorable, and educational experience for all age groups.

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