Blog :: DDR Museum

3 Feb 2016 by Admin

Vacation during the GDR - a topic you can not only find in the exhibition of the DDR Museum: In future we will also deal with this interesting subject on our online blog. How was tourism like and what where especially popular destinations?

Award

DDR Museum has been decorated with the award "barrier-free certified"

Museum news

27 Jan 2016 by Admin

The DDR Museum has recently been certified as a barrier-free cultural institution. It has been graded after the nationwide label "Traveling for all" which is oriented at specific criteria of the project of the same name.

Collection

Foreign aid by the GDR in Africa

20 Jan 2016 by Admin

Even though the GDR had quite a number of economic problems itself, the small country nevertheless offered foreign aid to many places around the world since the 1960s, which within the socialist language use, however, was referred to as „Anti-imperialistic solidarity“.

Happy cooking!

Christmas Cake

DDR recipes

18 Dec 2015 by Janine Henschel

Have you already shopped all presents for your loved ones? In case you still have room for some gifts we are now providing you with the perfect recipe! This christmas-inspired cake is great as a present for your host(s) during the holiday festivities or a thoughtful present from grandchildren to their grandparents. After all, a self-made present is something truly special!

DIY

Face and Eye gymnastics

Topic DDR

2 Dec 2015 by Janine Henschel

People have been concerned with aesthetics and cosmetics already in antiquity. This was also true for the GDR. Even back then, a tired, aged and wrinkly skin was considered a disadvantageous feature. By wrinkling one's nose, raising and pulling together the skin of the forehead, pouting and squinting, parts of the dermal tissue and muscle activity are stressed only partially which eventually leads to unattractive wrinkles.

Relics from the DDR

Part II: The Soho House Berlin or the long forgotten „House of Unity“

Relics of the DDR

25 Nov 2015 by Admin

On the corner of Prenzlauer Alle and Tor-/ Mollstraße stands a pompous building, which today is considered a popular place of shelter in the capital for international actors such as Brad Pitt or George Clooney. The Soho House Berlin is an exclusive club with combined living and work spaces for artists, journalists, directors and managers from the media sector.

Collection

Erich Honecker – Rise and Fall of the GDR Head of State

Topic DDR

4 Nov 2015 by Admin

On October 29th in 1976, exactly 39 years ago, Erich Honecker was elected Chairman of the Privy Council by the People's Chamber. At that moment he had been holding all of the important positions in the GDR such as „General Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED“, „Chairman of the National Defense Council“ as well as „Chairman of the State Council in the GDR“ in personal union since 1976. Domestically, Honecker was at the peak of his power. But how did the little „Saarlander“ get into those influential positions? To answer this question, a look into history is necessary at first.

DDR History

Erich Honecker – Rise and Fall of the DDR Head of State

Topic DDR

29 Oct 2015 by Jörn Kleinhardt

Erich Honecker was head of state of the DDR from 1971 to 1989 and was responsible for numerous deaths during his time in office. The article looks at the political career from Honecker's rise to his fall.

Collection

From subject to museum object – how an item becomes part of the collection

Collection

28 Oct 2015 by Admin

One of the core tasks of a museum is the care and enlargement of its collection along a specific collection concept. At the DDR Museum this happens to a large part by accepting donations from the public. Visitors can either deliver their donations directly at the entrance area of our museum or contact one of the members of the collection department. This procedure enables our staff to decide whether the specific object fits the collection concept and will represent a meaningful addition to the collection.

Collaboration

Kooperation with the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History

Museum news

21 Oct 2015 by Admin

Last week the DDR Museum has been on tour on behalf of an international cooperation. Where to, why and what kind of interesting experiences have been made you will read in today's blog!

Collection

The Berlin TV Tower

14 Oct 2015 by Admin

On October 3rd in 1969, the Berlin TV Tower was ceremonially inaugurated in Berlin Mitte at the Alexanderplatz in the presence of Walter Ulbricht and other high-rank politicians of the SED party. At the same time the television broadcaster Deutscher Fernsehfunk started its emission and the era of color television in the GDR had begun. Prior to the construction there were constant internal discussions about the exact place and appearance of the tower. After agreement, the then-president of the Deutsche Bauakademie (German Construction Academy) Gerhard Kosel was instructed by the SED leadership with the overall instruction of the project.

GDR History

The GDR’s last birthday celebrations in Berlin

Topic DDR

8 Oct 2015

On 7 October 1989, the 40th and thus the last birthday of the Republic was celebrated in Berlin, during which there was turbulence on the city’s streets. This was only thematised in the press days later. We show an excerpt from the newspaper »Neues Deutschland« as well as thematic objects from our collection.

Collection

Progress-Filmprogramm - little booklets for big movies

Collection

7 Oct 2015 by Admin

The film distribution company Progress, founded in 1950, had a monopoly in the GDR and brought all movies into the movie theaters, regardless of the fact whether they were domestic or international productions.

Education program

GDR Guide – the exhibition catalogue of the DDR Museum

Museum news

30 Sep 2015 by Janine Henschel

The GDR Guide offers a glimpse into the life of a bygone state along 160 pages. 42 chapters, more than 200 photographs and comprehensive information material depict everyday life in the GDR in a colorful and detailed way.

Collection

The West in the boob tube

Collection

16 Sep 2015 by Admin

The collection of the DDR Museum has grown again recently. The object concerned is a self-made converter for the reception of the TV channels ARD and ZDF – programs from West Germany and therefore not officially forbidden for GDR citizens, but nevertheless programs only minimally tolerated by the government.

Happy cooking!

Potato soup Berlin style

DDR recipes

9 Sep 2015 by Janine Henschel

Back then, potato soup was a very popular dish, because it was fast and simple to make. Furthermore, all the ingredients for this soup were always available and affordable. Today, we would like to introduce a recipe from the times of the GDR. Of course there were also many more variations which surely also were quite delicious. Just try them!

Collection

East-West relationships between minimum exchange and welcome money

8 Sep 2015 by Admin

Regarding the inner-German tourist travel with all its aspects, one will inevitably come across the East-German „minimum exchange“ and the West-German „welcome money“. But what do these terms exactly mean and what were their consequences for the people?

Events

Theo Tintenklecks, spook at the museum and many visitors at the Long Night of Museums

Museum news

2 Sep 2015 by Admin

Last Saturday, many things were going on at the DDR Museum late at night: On the occasion of the 35th Long Night of Museums in Berlin theDDR Museum opened its gates between 6pm and 2am, of course along with an interesting program for our guests!

Event

GDR and no ending? Discussion with Jens Schöne and Stefan Wolle

Museum news

19 Aug 2015 by Melanie Alperstaedt

Yesterday evening our guest was historian Jens Schöne, who just published his newest work „Die DDR. Eine Geschichte des Arbeiter- und Bauernstaates“ ("The GDR. A history of the state of workers and peasants") at the Berlin Story publishing company, which offers an overall view of the GDR era. The book is also available in English („The GDR“), which unfortunately is still a rare fact considering the existing literature about the GDR. The book is very popular in our museum store, especially the English version is highly demanded by our interested international visitors.