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From the collection

10 Objects for a Christmas in the GDR

30 Nov 2022 by Alexandra de León
What did a Christmas in the GDR look like? In this blog post, we have selected ten objects from our collection to guide you through a typical Christmas day in the GDR.
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GDR History

Dr. Stefan Wolle interviewed about the »Leseland DDR« exhibition

23 Nov 2022 by Gesche Rintelen
Dr. Stefan Wolle, the author of the exhibition, tells us in the following interview why the GDR was a reading country and what can be discovered by young and old who embark on a journey through time to the reading country GDR while viewing the 20 exhibition panels with their texts, photos and videos.
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GDR History

The Green Party in the GDR

21 Nov 2022
The Green Party in the GDR was officially founded on 24 November 1989, but its history began long before this. The party’s political debut was made possible through both the support of the West German Greens and the peace and human rights movement in the GDR.
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From the collection

ME 830 condenser microphones from VEB Mikrofontechnik Gefell

16 Nov 2022
On 20 September 2022, Frank Zander donated two wooden boxes containing a total of 8 ME 830 condenser microphones to the DDR Museum. The microphones were manufactured by VEB Mikrofontechnik Gefell.
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From the museum

The 0 Euro souvenir banknote for the 50th anniversary of the X. World Festival

9 Nov 2022 by Alexandra de León
The new edition of the 0-Euro souvenir banknote is here! On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students in the GDR, we have developed a design with these festivities in mind.
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From the museum

The living room in the DDR Museum

26 Oct 2022
The DDR Museum's fully furnished WBS-70 flat includes a reconstruction of a typical GDR living room. This centerpiece has been equipped with a wealth of information and technical features.
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From the Museum

10 popular places in the exhibition of the DDR Museum

27 Sep 2022 by Vanessa Jasmin Lemke
The DDR Museum's exhibition is full of exciting places to discover. In this blog, we present the 10 most popular places in the exhibition based on selected pictures taken by museum visitors.
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From our Collection

10 Objects from a GDR Summer Holiday

21 Sep 2022
Many families went to the Baltic Sea for their summer holiday. But many holiday spots were limited and, thus, very high in demand - even in the camping sites. Our collection contains many objects that might have accompanied a summer holiday. We present 10 of them in this blog post.
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»10 questions for ...«

Katie McCarthy – Intern at the DDR Museum

12 Sep 2022
We are pleased to introduce the DDR Museum's new intern. Katie McCarthy has been supporting our team since August and has answered 10 questions for us.
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»10 Questions to ...«

Interview Eric Strohmeier-Wimmer - Scientific Director of the Collection

31 Aug 2022
We are pleased to introduce the new scientific director of the collection of the DDR Museum. Eric Strohmeier-Wimmer has been working in our collection since April and answered 10 questions for us.
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From the Collection

Sink bath

2 Aug 2022 by Patrick Opitz
According to the guarantee certificate, this sink from VEB Starkstrom-Anlagenbau Magdeburg (VEM) dates from 1973 and is a real eye-catcher. In this article we show pictures and further information about this object.
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GDR History

The World Festival of Youth and Students

27 Jul 2022
First held in Prague in 1947, the World Youth Games seem like a Cold War phenomenon, but the leftist World Federation of Democratic Youth, which organises the Games, is still active today. In this blog post, we focus in particular on the two festivals in the GDR.
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From the collection

Our five most bizarre objects

29 Jun 2022
The DDR Museum's collection now comprises more than 300,000 objects. Out of these objects around 13,000 can be viewed in our object database, which can be accessed free of charge online. Here we present five particularly bizarre pieces.
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GDR History

The dacha as a symbol of everyday life in the GDR

22 Jun 2022
The allotment garden was common and extremely popular in the GDR under the Russian name »dacha«. For many, the dacha became a place of private retreat and a source of sustenance, forming the centre of their lives.
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From the collection

Children’s sewing machines from VEB Piko

13 Jun 2022
Children's sewing machines are the perfect way to introduce children to the art of sewing in a playful way. Smaller versions of conventional sewing machines are less complicated to use and allow children to have a lot of fun during their first sewing attempts.
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GDR History

The way to adulthood: youth initiation ceremonies in the GDR

23 May 2022
Most young people in the GDR were accepted into the adult world through the »Jugendweihe« or »youth initiation ceremony«. However, the history of these celebrations began long before this in the middle of the 19th century.
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From the museum

Special exhibition »A nation and its heroes«

26 Apr 2022
The special exhibition »A nation and its heroes – 25 tales from the DDR« in the foyer of the museum portrays well-known and unknown personalities whose deeds became part of the country's history.
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GDR History

Local history lessons in GDR schools

22 Apr 2022
The subject »Heimatkunde« was taught at schools in the GDR from years 2 to 5 and was intended to educate children on local history. However, the term was not an invention of the GDR. In this article, you can find out about what was taught in local history classes in the GDR. We also show you textbooks and exercise books from our collection.
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GDR History

Lenin and his reflection in the GDR

19 Apr 2022 by Jörn Kleinhardt
Although Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his fighting name Lenin, died in 1924, his Marxist theories in particular had a decisive influence on the GDR and its development.
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GDR History

The Influence of Soviet Products and Culture on the GDR

8 Apr 2022 by Jörn Kleinhardt
The GDR emerged from the Soviet occupation zone in 1949 and had been closely related to and dependent on the »Big Brother« for the 40 years of its existence. So it is not surprising that everyday life and culture were influenced by Russian products. We present selected objects from our collection.
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