About DDR Museum
This is an interactive, modern museum, and one of the most visited attractions in Berlin. Its intention is to make history come alive! DDR Museum offers the first-hand experience of everyday life in German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). It displays original objects from the former East Germany, which lasted from 1949 until 1990.
However, this is not just a depot of old stuff, which explains some historical facts. Its a unique adventure, a sort of a time machine. For example, you will enter a 1:2 scale model of typical flat from DDR period, where you can literally still sense the original smell of Socialist era. You can answer the phone ringing in the living room, or open the drawers, press the buttons and use the artifacts. Moreover, visitors are encouraged to actively participate in discovering this intriguing part of history.
When to visit DDR Museum
DDR Museum is open 365 days a year, even on public holidays. Allow around 90 minutes to visit it, from 10 AM to 8 PM (on Saturdays until 10 PM). It is one of the newest museums in Berlin, located by the River Spree. It is across the Berliner Dom, near Alexanderplatz, Nikolai Quarter and Museum Island.
Why to visit DDR Museum
Around 500,000 visitors come to DDR Museum every year, because it provides lots of fun. Brilliantly designed simulations and installations can be almost exotic for some people. Here you can see original documents, listen to the music and radio programs of Soviet era, drive the Trabi or even visit a reconstructed prison cell, and listen to notorious prisoners’ interrogations.
DDR Museum is an unusual experience. Around 16 million people who lived in DDR were cut-off from the outside world, surrounded by wall and barbed wire. Their life was very peculiar, because the majority of them lived in constant fear, struggling for food and goods. In DDR Museum you will learn about those days through original documentary movies, workshops and talks with the former residents of DDR.
Along with this objective perspective, the Museum offers some funny and ironic memories. You can explore famous industrial products of East Germany, experience waiting in lines for food, or Stasi (secret police) surveillance. Visitors can also learn the story about Berlin Wall, and, finally, buy original souvenirs.
Significance DDR Museum
DDR Museum is one of the most interactive museums in the world, nominated twice as European Museum of the Year. It uses modern technology and entertaining details to encourage people to think about history without prejudices, and accept cultural diversity.
