DDR Museum
Encyclopedia
The DDR Museum is an interactive museum in the centre of Berlin
. The museum is located in the former governmental district of East Germany, right on the river Spree
, opposite the Berlin Cathedral. The museum is the 11th most visited museum in Berlin.
Its exhibition shows the daily life in East Germany (known in German as the or DDR) in a direct "hands-on" way. For example, a covert listening device
("bug") gives visitors the sense of being "under surveillance".
The museum was opened on July 15, 2006, as a private museum. The private funding is unusual in Germany, because German museums are normally funded by the state. The museum met some opposition from state-owned museums, who considered possibly "suspect" a private museum and concerned that the museum could be used as an argument to question public funding to museums in general.
In 2008, the DDR Museum was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award
.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The museum is located in the former governmental district of East Germany, right on the river Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
, opposite the Berlin Cathedral. The museum is the 11th most visited museum in Berlin.
Its exhibition shows the daily life in East Germany (known in German as the or DDR) in a direct "hands-on" way. For example, a covert listening device
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
("bug") gives visitors the sense of being "under surveillance".
The museum was opened on July 15, 2006, as a private museum. The private funding is unusual in Germany, because German museums are normally funded by the state. The museum met some opposition from state-owned museums, who considered possibly "suspect" a private museum and concerned that the museum could be used as an argument to question public funding to museums in general.
In 2008, the DDR Museum was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award
European Museum of the Year Award
The European Museum of the Year Award , established in 1977, is presented each year by the European Museum Forum , under the Council of Europe...
.
Further reading
- Robert Rückel (ed.): GDR-Guide: everyday life of a long-gone state in 22 chapters. Berlin: DDR Museum Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-939801-14-6.