Blog :: Page 3 :: DDR Museum

2 Jun 2016 by Jörn Kleinhardt

The thematically diverse Soviet magazine »Sputnik« was first published in 1967 and was available in both the DDR and the Federal Republic. On 18 November 1988, however, the DDR government imposed a distribution stop.

Collection

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

18 May 2016 by Admin

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.

Review

Cultural history in the GDR

Topic DDR

27 Apr 2016 by Admin

We review "Kulturgeschichte der DDR. Ein Überblick, Erfurt 2014." by Frank Hoffmann.

Collection

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

Topic DDR

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.

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“.

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.

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

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 GDR-press days later. We show an excerpt from the newspaper »Neues Deutschland« as well as thematic objects from our collection.

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?

Collection

Summer Camp in the GDR

22 Jul 2015 by Admin

Holiday time is summer camp time! This slogan was true for many children who grew up in the German Democratic Republic. And, truly, the small republic established a great number of summer camps. The youth getaways were divided into pioneer's camps („Pionierferienlager“) and company camps („Betriebsferienlager“) and were spread all over the country. In the year 1989 alone there were 49 pioneer's camps within the GDR, as well as hundreds of additional company camps.

Border

The Ostsee frontier tower in Külungsborn - a place to remember the German Division.

Topic DDR

17 Jun 2015 by Admin

A lot of Germans still go to the Ostsee and especially the city Kühlungsborn is very popular. You can see beach chairs and tourists walking at the promenade, which looks very different in comparison with what you could see at the time between 1961 and 1968.

GDR History

Erich Mielke – Minister for State Security

11 Jun 2015 by Admin

On 13 November 1989, Erich Mielke gave his first speech in the People's Chamber at the Palace of the Republic. His words »I love – I love all – all people – well, I love – I'm committed to it« have been quoted many times and offer deep insight into the mind of the 82-year-old man.

Collection

Fashion in the GDR – Fashion – Do it yourself

3 Jun 2015 by Admin

If you think about fashion in the GDR, do you see colors and nice feminine looks? Or do you see grey, shapeless clothes? No matter what you think, both thoughts are right. In the GDR you could find the one and the other.

Tip

GHDI: German History in Documents and Images

Topic DDR

20 May 2015 by Admin

It is difficult to come by original documents and images about the German history, especially for people from foreign countries. Because of this difficulty the German Historical Institute in Washington D.C. initiated an interesting project.

Border

The Memorial Point Alpha between Geisa/Rasdorf

Topic DDR

18 May 2015 by Admin

The Point Alpha Memorial is located along the former inner-German border, between Geisa/Thuring and Rasdorf/Hesse, on a surface of almost 100,000 square meters. It is an interesting historical place where visitors can experience how life was during the time of the wall.

Press

„Ostalgia: Romanticizing the GDR“ – an article by Wolfgang Dick

Topic DDR

6 May 2015 by Admin

Twenty-five years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall the Deutsche Welle dealt last year in an interesting article with the remembrance of the former GDR.

Design

The chicken or the egg...

29 Apr 2015 by Admin

which came first? A well known enigma where the answer still generates contrasting opinions among intellectuals since generations. SONJA PLASTIC, a west Saxonian producer of plastic design objects, does not ask itself this question. Since the beginning of the seventies, chicken and egg boxes belong to the same successful selection of the Wolkensteiner enterprise, set up 90 years ago.

Tip

For in German history interested people

Topic DDR

22 Apr 2015 by Admin

Every now and again I search through the internet for foreign language offers for those who are interested in German history and especially in GDR history. Sometimes I find some, sometimes not. Today I was once again successful. This time I found something interest about German history in general.

Online Tickets