DDR Museum Berlin

Abstract

In the summer of 2006 a new permanent exhibition on East German history opened its doors on the banks of the river Spree, just a frog's jump away from the Berliner Dom and the slowly disappearing Palast der Republik. The DDR Museum1 sets out to show all facets of life and growing up in the German Democratic Republic in basement premises measuring just 400m2. The exhibition is composed of seventeen thematic areas, ranging from earnest topics such as ‘border’, ‘state security’ and ‘construction’ to the more diverting ‘fashion’, ‘consumer goods’ and ‘holidays’. The whole space is designed as a miniature pre-fabricated housing development, the facades of which incorporate display cabinets and drawers inviting visitors to explore their contents. Each thematic area is given roughly the same space, and consequently the GDR's dozen or so popular bands get about as much room as the Stasi. For some reason,...