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Jubilee

10 years of a hands-on experience of history!

20 Jul 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
Last Thursday, the 14th of July in 2016, the DDR Museum celebrated its 10th birthday. Many friends, partners and of course all staff members reveled the special event at the river front and lifted their glasses to the successes of the past and the exciting projects for the future of our institution.
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Retrospect

10 years of a hands-on experience of history – birthday week at the DDR Museum!

13 Jul 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
The coming week at the DDR Museum will be all about its 10-year existence. The institution is celebrating its 10th birthday and will look back at its turbulent and exciting history. In this blog we are going to review some special highlights!
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Behind the Scenes

A question from a British artist: How did social cohesion look like in the GDR?

13 Jul 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
Last week we were visited by Mr. Sullivan, an artist from Great Britain who is currently doing research for his current art project. He was especially interested in the social cohesion and social commitment in the GDR as well as the changes which followed the Wende concerning relationships within the society.
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Educational Program

Our Karl-Marx-Allee Tour

6 Jul 2016 by Esra Kurtoglu
Today we would like to introduce to you one of our tours, which of course is also suitable for school groups. The Karl-Marx-Allee Tour is a combined tour, meaning that it will start with a one-hour visit of the DDR Museum, followed by a two-hour walk along the Alexanderplatz as well as the socialist boulevard.
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Collection

From the "Sticky Mark" to the Mark of the GDR – Money Through the Ages

29 Jun 2016 by Jörn Kleinhardt
When World War II ended with the unconditional surrender of the German Reich, the Allied Forces occupied the different occupation zones. From the very beginning, the official instrument of payment was the Reichsmark, which had been introduced already in 1924 and which had survived the turbulent times of the Weimar Republic as well as the Third Reich. The old bills and coins continued to be in use during the transition period until June, 1948.
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Collection

Big objects in front of the lens

15 Jun 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
The collection department of the DDR Museum now owns a modern set for photographing big objects.
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Collection

The magazine "Sputnik" as a paper-based ambassador of the USSR

8 Jun 2016 by Jörn Kleinhardt
The Soviet magazine "Sputnik" (Russian for companion) has been published by the state-owned news agency "Nowosti" since January 1967. It was designed as a digest of the Soviet press and was not only adressed to Russians but also to readers from other socialist and western foreign countries.
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Behind the Scenes

Not only work for the curators: How do I plan an exhibition?

1 Jun 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
To design an exhibition in a museum is a highly complex process. Many different staff members are involved – the maintenance man, colleagues who are working at the cashier's desk, as well as the curators. The DDR Museum is currently working on a new part of its permanent exhibition – find out more about it here. In the following text I would like to give you a little insight into what it takes to plan a new exhibition!
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News

News from the Construction Site

25 May 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
The preparations for our new permanent exhibition are coming along with high speed. Already since the beginning of 2016, a new exhibition space is being realized within our museum. Additionally to the already existing two parts of our permanent exhibition, a third exhibition part will offer even more information for our visitors about everyday life in the GDR.
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Collection

"Original Wolfen" magnetic tape and film production in the GDR

18 May 2016 by Jörn Kleinhardt
Every technology enthusiast in the GDR was well accustomed with the products of the company ORWO. No wonder: The company used to have the monopoly on the production of chemical data mediums in the GDR. The history of the production site, Wolfen, however, is only familiar to few.
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Collection

Having an eye on finances: 8 books of household accounts from a family in Dresden

11 May 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
Nowadays there's an app for that. In the GDR, on the other hand, people kept an eye on their receipts and expenditures with the help of a meticulously kept book of household accounts. It was a proper housewife's duty to keep track of what amount of money was spent for what and when. The DDR Museum was recently donated a total of 8 books of household accounts from a family from Dresden, starting on January 1st in 1963 and ending on January 3rd in 1993. Learn more about these highly interesting historical documents in the following text!
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Social Media

A view behind the scenes of our diverse Facebook community

4 May 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
With its activities on various social media, the DDR Museum is one of the most active museums in Germany. We are posting content to all things related to the GDR on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram or Google+. Just like in our exhibition, the topics vary from everyday life, industry, foreign affairs to the Ministry of State security and the Wall. Our fan base is just as diverse as the topics that are posted on a daily basis. In the following text, we are going to take a closer look at our Facebook community. Learn about its regional and national background as well as the structure of gender and age!
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Review

Cultural history in the GDR

27 Apr 2016 by Elke Sieber
We review "Kulturgeschichte der DDR. Ein Überblick, Erfurt 2014." by Frank Hoffmann.
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Collection

The Thirst Quencher for work at high temperatures: Contratherm – Heat Drink

20 Apr 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
The collection of the DDR Museum is documenting everyday life in the GDR and therefore consists of different objects belonging to all sorts of topics. Every day, our colleagues at the collection department are dealing with objects and their interesting stories and sometimes unusual original purposes. One of them is the sealed glass bottle “Contratherm - Heat Drink”, containing a bright pink liquid. Get to know the interesting background story in the following text!
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Collection

Reaching to the stars with the model kit “Vostok-1”

13 Apr 2016 by Dr. Stefan Wolle
On April 12 in 1961 at 7:07am CET, Juri Gagarin was the first human being to fly into space with the “Vostok-1”, where he orbited the earth within 108 minutes. This event represented a high success for all Eastern bloc countries which were in constant competition with the United States of America. Gagarin started in the Soviet place of Kosmodrom Baikonur, the biggest Soviet space mission launch center in southern Kasachstan.
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Relics of the DDR

Part V: Traffic Signs – The Ampelmännchen

6 Apr 2016 by Elke Sieber
Until this day, the East-German Ampelmännchen remains highly popular, appearing more likable and dynamic than its West-German counterpart. It clearly signals when to cross the street and when to wait for the traffic to pass.
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Tourism in the DDR

Sofia /Bulgaria

30 Mar 2016 by Esra Kurtoglu
Romantic mountain and forest landscapes, long beaches at the Black Sea, picturesque villages – those were the things luring numerous citizens of the GDR to the People’s Republic of Bulgaria. In today’s text I will deal with Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, located in the western part of the country. This is how a leave day could have been structured back then.
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Review

The movie "Der verlorene Engel"

23 Mar 2016 by Admin
The movie "Der verlorene Engel" ("The lost angel") is one of the numerous films which were produced in the 1960s by the state-owned film studio DEFA, but were then prohibited by the party leadership because of their criticism of the system in connection with the resolutions of the 11. plenum of the central comittee of the SED party.
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Collection

Who is getting in and out of the house? The house book in the DDR

16 Mar 2016 by Jörn Kleinhardt
In the German Democratic Republic, filling out a house book was regulated by law according to the reporting ordinance. But what does that mean exactly? How did such a book look like? Who was responsible for it? What was the benefit? Questions which we are going to answer in the following text. As an example we are going to talk about a copy from the early 1950s.
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Collaboration

The DDR Museum has started a cooperation with the HTW Berlin

9 Mar 2016 by Maria Bartholomäus
The DDR Museum has a new cooperation partner: We are happy to announce that we will be realizing projects along with the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, which is a great opportunity to contribute to the connection between cultural institutions and educational establishments in Berlin!
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