FAQs
Overview
A HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE OF HISTORY
The DDR Museum presents everyday life in the GDR in a vivid, interactive and playful way. All aspects of life in the GDR are conveyed first hand - ›FDJ‹ (Free German Youth), Stasi, Trabant, concrete slab buildings and much more.
The visitors take part in an exceptional journey through the socialist past: taking a
seat in a Trabi, dancing the Lipsi or rummaging through cupboards in an authentic
GDR living room - touching the exhibits is strongly encouraged!
Permanent exhibition: Nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award 2008
Size: 400 m²
Manager and curator: Robert Rückel
Head of research: Dr. Stefan Wolle
Architecture: Frank Wittmer
THE DDR MUSEUM IS THE ONLY OF ITS KIND:
Uniquely interactive: The visitor doesn't just look into the display cabinets but has
to actively take part in the exhibition in order to really grasp it. Exhibits can be touched,
objects used, flaps and drawers opened ... The experience is more merorable because
it is interactive and the exhibition comes alive. The visitor is taken on a journey through the socialist past and dives deep into life in the GDR. The visitor's knowledge is expanded,
clichés are reviewed and history is experienced close up - history which can
be touched.
Uniquely financed: The DDR Museum doesn't receive tax money or any kind of sponsorship; it finances itself solely through its visitors. This deliberate decision worked out well - the museum fends for itself.
Uniquely focused: As the only museum of its kind, the DDR Museum shows life in the GDR and, by doing so, life under a dictatorship. The 16 million inhabitants of the GDR did not only live between prison and Spreewald gherkins, but also made their own lives and adjusted to the situation. They actually lived.
Aims of the museum:
- To raise curiosity for history
- To combine education and entertainment
- To be thought provoking
- To promote understanding between people
Questions concerning contenct and opinions
The exhibition is not organized chronologically but is theme based: 16 theme areas draw a picture of the life in the GDR: Border, Berlin, traffic, youth, education, work, consumption, state security, building, living, family, media, fashion, free time, culture and holidays.
The museum collection currently holds about 125.000 objects (as of 18th May 2009).
The majority of the exhibits comes from private houesehold that have passed on their “everyday companions” to the museum. Thousands of donors had preserved these objects for posterity.
Questions concerning genesis and history
During his stay in Berlin, Peter Kenzelmann, an ethnologist from Fribourg, wanted to visit a DDR Museum. He was sure to find one in Berlin, the former capital of the GRD. So he asked someone at a touristic information desk. This person told him, that he will find a former prison, which was run by the Stasi and a Berlin Wall memorial center. But no DDR Museum. So he had the idea to build up a DDR Museum and he talked to the cultural manager Robert Rückel.I showed, that the museum accounting of the GDR history only revisit some topics. They found out, that there was no museum, which showed the connection between the everyday life and the dictatorship. This was something, what they both wanted to change!
The DDR Museum was inaugurated on the 14th of July by the senator for culture and the mayor of Berlin-Mitte. Since the 15th of July, the museum is open for our guests.
Questions concerning journalistic work
Yes. Please apply to Melanie Alperstaedt for filming inside the museum. There is only one requirement: All of our visitors should still be able to use all our offers inside the exhibition without boundaries and it is not allowed to cordon off any areas.
In principle, you are allowed to ask our visitors for their personal opinion. Please announce your visit first and tell us, in what journalistic context you would like to interview our guests. Your contact person is Melanie Alperstaedt.
Empirically, our visitors enjoy to speak about their own experiences and impressions. Please proceed cautiously and do not press them to do an interview, because we like to offer them an unaffected, pleasant and entertaining visit.
Yes, if you take them only to report about the DDR Museum. Other uses have to be authorized by the museum.
You will hardly find natural light in the DDR Museum. For shots, you normally need an additional source of light. You will find several outlets in the museum, which you are allowed to use.
You can index yourself in the press distribution list here. Then you will get all the new press releases and the newsletter.
In this case, you can film in the museum before it opens or after it is closed. From Monday to Sunday before 10am or after 8pm, Saturday before 10am or after 10pm.
If you like to film inside the museum because you like to report on the DDR Museum, you do not have to pay for it. It is also possible to film inside the museum for a film or to take pictures for another purpose. Please contact Melanie Alperstaedt in all cases.
You can download the press kit here. If you visit the museum, you will get a press kit at the cash desk on demand.
Press kit Yes it is, if you show your press card at the counter. Then you will get a free ticket.
You will find press pictures in a printable quality (300 dpi) here. You are allowed to use them for your reporting on the DDR Museum. To make another use of the pictures it is mandatory to ask the directorate. Therefore, please send an email to presse@ddr-museum.de
Downloads You can choose between different interview partners. Are you interested in the DDR Museum, it`s history, a look behind the curtain or future plans for the exhibition, spokeswomen Melanie Alperstaedt or the director of the museum, Robert Rückel, are the right interviewees for you.
If you have questions concerning the GDR history, the head of research of the DDR Museum, Dr. Stefan Wolle, is the right interviewee for you.
Concerning your interview request, please contact Melanie Alperstaedt first.
Questions concerning the visitors
You find statistics about our visitors at the menue "statistics".
Statistics 
Recommend
Bookmark
Print
