Event Archive

The DDR Museum's Event Archive

The DDR Museum regularly offers free events in its own conference room. Here you can find past events and search for a topic in the search field.

You can find the video recordings of the discussions, book presentations, exhibition openings etc. in the respective event.

If you don't want to miss any more events, sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of this page or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Enjoy browsing!

23.04.25

18:00

Book presentation

The three-cylinder in a two-stroke engine

Lars Leonhardt is currently probably the most recognised expert on Wartburg automobiles from Eisenach. In his in-depth lecture on the development, production and export of the Wartburg 311/313 model series, he puts important aspects of operational and economic history into context for the first time and presents all body variants of the series as well as the concepts of the possible successor models in detail. What were the export countries for the 311, as it was popularly known? How did people in the GDR come to own a Wartburg? A wealth of previously unpublished photos and graphics make the evening just as exciting as the automotive surprises it presents on the doorstep. Lecture: Lars Leonhardt, graduate engineer and automobile historian, Lippstadt Admission is free of charge.

26.03.25

18:00

Scenic reading

Revolt of the smock aprons

Scenic reading »From the group book of Christiane P.«. What memories do you have of growing up in the GDR? How did a group council election work, when did you wear a pioneer blouse and what did you have a sponsor brigade for? In the staged reading from the book of the same name »Aus dem Gruppenbuch der Christiane P.«, actress Marharyta Pshenitsyna reads texts accompanied by pictures by photographer Matthias Leupold. In his photographs, Leupold stages key images of his East Berlin childhood and youth in the 1960s to 1980s in the here and now, reminding us of growing up in the GDR. It is precisely the everyday and self-evident things of that time that are often not part of today's collective memory. And finally, the question remains: Who was Christiane P.? Scenic reading: Marharyta Pshenitsyna, Actor Lviv/Bautzen Prof. Matthias Leupold, Photographer and filmmaker, Berlin Moderation: Dr. Liza Soutschek, Scientific Associate Exhibition DDR Museum, Berlin Admission is free of charge.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-aufstand-der-kittelschuerzen.jpg

12.03.25

18:00

Lecture

Escape across the Baltic Sea

The surveillance of the GDR's sea border. An event to accompany the special exhibition. Behind the beach idyll lay a system of border surveillance. From August 1961 to September 1989, 5,636 people attempted to flee the GDR via the western Baltic Sea. Only 913 succeeded, 135 people drowned. These figures show the tragedy of the Baltic Sea escapes, which entailed a high level of risk. Frigate Captain Ingo Pfeiffer's review of 40 years of the »blue border« documents the border regime and its effects on the Baltic Sea escapes. The 6th Coastal Border Brigade (GBK), the People's Police and their volunteers, customs, passport control units and the Stasi state security were all involved. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, border surveillance on the GDR Baltic coast also came to an end. Lecture: Dr Ingo Pfeiffer, former frigate captain, Wandlitz Admission is free of charge.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-flucht-ueber-die-ostsee-sonderausstellung.jpg

19.02.25

18:00

Lecture and discussion

Treasure Hunters

The GDR and the raw materials issue. There was a lack of many things in the GDR. But one issue was particularly precarious: apart from lignite and potash salt, there were no raw materials worth mentioning. The »dream of oil« in their own country in the 1960s came at just the right time. However, this dream was soon extinguished due to the lack of yield from the deposits near Grimmen, especially as the Soviet Union supplied cheap oil until the end of the 1970s. The situation was similar with natural gas. However, the expertise in exploring new deposits led to many a treasure in socialist countries, such as a gold mine in Mongolia. Although the Geological Research and Exploration Combine discovered it, the »harvest« could only be reaped after 1990. Klaus Erler will illustrate all of this in his lecture. Lecture and discussion: Dr Klaus Erler, former General Director of the Geological Research and Exploration Combine, Halle/Berlin Moderation: Sören Marotz, Exhibition Director DDR Museum, Berlin Admission is free of charge.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-schatzsucher-ddr-rohstofffrage.jpg

29.01.25

18:00

Picture presentation

The garages of East Germany

A photographic search for clues. Garages had at least a double meaning in the GDR. They provided a home for the expensive and long-waiting vehicles, but were often also a small paradise for great tinkerers. And at the weekend, the transition from tinkering, screwing and repairing to barbecues with the neighbours from the garage complex was usually seamless. Photographer Martin Maleschka has captured the architectural ensembles around this East German microcosm and will present his observations in more detail this evening. These biotopes of everyday culture, which were often built as a collective DIY project, sometimes give the impression today that the GDR has survived the last 35 years. COOPERATION WITH THE LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR RAUMBEZOGENE SOZIALFORSCHUNG E.V. (IRS) Series: Places of the GDR Lecture: Martin Maleschka, architect and photographer, Eisenhüttenstadt Moderation: Sören Marotz, Exhibition Director DDR Museum, Berlin

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-die-garagen-ostdeutschlands.jpg

11.12.24

18:00

Picture lecture »The Berlin Cathedral«

A building in the heart of the city.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-der-berliner-dom-bild-domarchiv-günther-stahn.jpg

06.11.24

18:00

Music programme »Love between East and West«

Musical-literary programme to mark the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-liebe-zwischen-ost-und-west-bild-alexandra-lachmann.jpg

10.10.24

18:00

Award ceremony and opening of the exhibition »Heinz-Jankofsky-Caricature-Competition«

Opening of the exhibition with the award winners.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-heinz-jankofsky-karikaturen-wettbewerb-bild-superillu.jpg

24.09.24

18:00

Workshop »35 Jahre Mauerfall – Haltet die Freiheit hoch!«

Poster campaign to join in and design.

18.09.24

18:00

Lecture and dialogue »Courage for freedom«

Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk presents his new book »Freiheitsschock«.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-mut-zur-freiheit-bild-ch-beck-verlag.jpg

24.08.24

18:00

Long Night of Museums

The DDR Museum presents itself under the motto »Come in and Coming Out«.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-lange-nacht-der-museen-bild-defa-stiftung-wolfgang-fritsch.jpg

21.08.24

18:00

Picture lecture »Gulf Stream to the East«

How the Beetle, Golf and Bulli came to the GDR.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-golfstrom-in-den-osten-bild-motorbuch-verlag.jpg

24.07.24

18:00

Opening of the special exhibition »The Baltic Sea«

Holiday destination, border region, place of longing - opening of the special exhibition in cooperation with SUPERillu.

tp-ddr-museum-veranstaltung-die-ostsee-bild-stoerer.jpg

03.07.24

18:00

Lecture with objects »GDR versus FRG«

A look back at six german-german football matches.

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-ddr-gegen-brd-bild-alexander-schmid.jpg

05.06.24

18:00

The long shadow of Stalin

The Soviet memorials in Berlin and democratic society

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-sowjetische-ehrenmale-berlin.jpg

24.04.24

18:00

When does the past begin?

»About collecting the present in historical museums«

ddr-museum-veranstaltung-wann-beginnt-die-vergangenheit.jpg

22.05.24

18:00

Dazzlers, Winners, Six-Cylinders

GDR car racing in the fifties

ddr-museum-veranstaltung--blender-sieger-sechszylinder.jpg

28.02.24

18:00

In a catamaran through Siberia

An expedition through the vastness of the Soviet Union.

21.02.24

18:00

Popvideos made in the GDR

Musician IC Falkenberg and author Heike Sittner in conversation.

24.01.24

18:00

The Drushba Route

The largest construction site in the GDR in Thomas Billhardt's pictures

ddr-veranstaltung-drushba-trasse-begleitveranstaltung.jpg

13.12.23

18:00

1,376 kilometres between East and West

Bildervortrag mit Marco Bertram zu seiner Grenzwanderung vor 20 Jahren.

15.11.23

18:00

A life for aviation

Scenic reading with Interflug pilot Heinz-Dieter Kallbach.

25.10.23

18:00

Little Brother, big brother – The GDR and the Soviet Union

Exhibition opening in cooperation with the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst

04.10.23

18:00

Walter Ulbricht – A German Communist

Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk presents the first volume of his Ulbricht biography.

13.09.23

18:00

You don't die in the third act!

Actor Peter Bause reads from his memoirs.

26.08.23

18:00

Long Night of the Museums 2023

The DDR Museum takes part under the motto »Born in the G.D.R.«

23.08.23

18:00

Paradise and Purgatory

Peter Wensierski reads from his book »Jena Paradise«.

19.07.23

18:00

Wear and tear to the point of catastrophe – Industrial accidents in the GDR

Prof. Dr. Thomas Lindenberger discusses the topic of industrial accidents in the GDR.

14.06.23

18:00

»Beyond the Wall« – Book presentation

Conversation about a »New History of the GDR« by Katja Hoyer

31.05.23

18:00

»I, on the other hand, sing« – Film screening

Film by Prof. Jürgen Haase about the singer-songwriter Stephan Krawczyk