Blog | DDR Museum

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GDR history

Berlin - the Socialist city

After the Second World War, more than 30% of the housing stock, 85% of classrooms and 80% of hospital rooms in Berlin were destroyed. What was to rise up from the ruins of the capital? The Socialist Unity Party (SED) saw a chance to include the rebirth of the city into the newly founded German Democratic Republic. Read more

GDR history

History

Topic traffic: The Trabant

The undisputed symbol of everyday life in the GDR was the Trabant, which means »companion« in German, and indeed the automobile accompanied the lives of many GDR citizens like a faithful friend - first as a dream, because you had to wait up to 16 years for a new car, then as a status symbol, a vehicle to drive and a hobby. Read more

From the collection

Collection

Valuable additions to the collection of the DDR Museum

The collection of a museum is never truly complete. In the following text we will introduce some objects which have been recently added to the collection of the DDR Museum. Read more

DDR recipes

Bake on your own

Easter bread

Why do we necessarily need an easter basket made of plastic or another material to fill it with easter eggs and other treats? Read more

DDR tourism

Travel

Altenburg

Altenburg is known worldwide as the city of playing cards and the game of skat. It is located in the county of Thuringia in the rural district Altenburger Land and is a former seat of royal power. Read more

Museum news

Exhibition

The Bathroom: The perspective of the curator

As a curator, I would like to give you some insights into the bathroom of our museum’s Plattenbau apartment today. Read more

From the collection

Collection

The constitution of the DDR through the ages

Throughout its entire existence, the German Democratic Republic had a total of three valid constitutions. The original constitution is from 1949, the founding year of the DDR, and consists of 144 articles. Due to the political developments in the 1950s and 1960s a revision of the old constitution was inevitable. Read more

Relics of the DDR

Relics from the DDR

Part XIV: Nature in the border area

The construction of the Wall and the Iron Curtain may have represented a limitation of the range of movement for many people, but the border installation, covering a total of 1400 kilometers, was a lucky chance for many animals and plants. Read more

GDR history

Shops and department stores in the GDR

»Exquisit« and »Delikat« shops

»Exquisit« and »Delikat« shops were opened in the 1960s to meet the »upmarket consumer needs« of the GDR population. In contrast to the Intershops, it was possible for the population to buy high-quality products in these shops with the country’s own currency, the GDR mark. Read more

Museum news

Exhibition

The Garage: The Idea

When we decided to portray the private life in the DDR in the form of a newly built flat of the WBS 70 type it was soon obvious that we wanted to add some sort of haven outside of the 4 Plattenbau walls. Read more

From the collection

Collection

Presenting DDR-clothes from the collection

The collection department of the DDR Museum has recently acquired professional equipment for the documentation of textiles. The seven figurines are essential for an authentic representation of clothes and are therefore contributing to the quality of our object photographs. Read more

GDR history

Shops and Department Stores in the DDR

The Intershop Retail Chain

Even today, many people remember the smell of the Intershops. Comparable to duty-free shops, the Intershops were aimed at travellers and were initially mainly found at railway stations, airports and other transit points. Until the end of the DDR, there were branches all over the country where the DDR's own population could also shop. Read more

Collection

Shopping in the DDR: Konsum

In order to satisfy their daily consumer needs, the citizens of the DDR / Soviet occupation zone had a number of possibilities to do their shopping. Already in December of 1945, a consumer cooperative with the simple name of “Konsum” was established. Only three years later, almost 300 independent consumer cooperatives existed in different cities. Read more

DDR recipes

Happy cooking!

Deer Pörkölt with red wine

You probably all know the term „goulash“. But have you ever heard about the Hungarian phrase “pörkölt”? To be honest, I have never heard of it before, either. Pörkölt is the equivalent to the dish goulash, as it is referred to outside of the Hungarian area. The texture, however, is slightly thicker since it is being cooked for a longer period of time. Read more

GDR history

Shops and department stores in the GDR

The »Handelsorganisation« (HO)

The East German »Handelsorganisation« (HO) or »Trade Organisation« was established shortly before the founding of the GDR. It was the state counterpart to the privately run consumer cooperative chain »Konsum« and, in addition to retail, also included a network of restaurants and hotels. Read more

Relics of the DDR

Relics from the DDR

Part XIII: DDR products

The border between the two German states did not only divide the people into East and West, but also the product world. Some of the articles which were developed in the DDR have survived the transformation after 1989 and have their fixed place in today's supermarkets in western and eastern parts of Germany. Read more

GDR history

Shops and department stores in the GDR

The »Konsumgenossenschaften«

The so-called »Konsum« shops sold goods for daily use. The term »Konsum« was the popular abbreviation for »Konsumgenossenschaften« or »consumer cooperatives«, which had been founded in 1945. Just a few years later, the Konsum retail chain shaped the shopping scene in the GDR. We show you thematic objects from our collection. Read more

DDR tourism

Tourism in the DDR

The island of Rügen

Rügen is located in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the German state of Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania. With an area of 976 m² it is the largest island in Germany. Read more

Museum news

From the museum

The children's room in the DDR Museum

In the DDR Museum's recreation of a typical children's room, you can not only reminisce about and discover many original toys, books and home accessories, but also learn about the influence the state had on the lives of young people. Read more

From the collection

Collection

Collecting with a system: How do objects get into a collection?

A museum has five main tasks: Teaching/communicating, Exhibiting, Researching, Collecting and Preserving. At the DDR Museum, the last two tasks are taken care of by the collection department. Collecting therefore also means to reasonably enlarge the inventory and to add new objects to the museum's collection. The following blog text will tell you more about how this exactly works. Read more