DDR Museum - an exhibition

Fitted wall cabinets, retro wallpaper, an old Erika typewriter alongside everyday items made from plastic and synthetic rubber: this is your typical East German living room. The DDR Museum brings the German Democratic Republic back to life. Visit a typical, 120 square metre Plattenbau flat and, at the same time, learn about Stasi surveillance techniques, the history of East Germany, and about the everyday life of people in the former Soviet occupied zone.

• Everyday life & living in the GDR
• The Wall & The Stasi
• Discover everything about living in the GDR
• 356 days a year open for you

Highlights of the DDR museum

The GDR exhibition shows many sides to everyday life, private as well as social. In 27 themed areas, you can see, for example, postcards sent home by children attending a Free German Youth holiday camp. In the media section, listen to East German music and stories about visits to the West. There is a five room flat furnished with astonishing attention to detail: look through the school jotters in the children's room, and see the GDR produced hats, skirts and shirts hanging in the wardrobe. Walk through into the kitchen, and you'll see the typical Resopal cabinets, spice racks and the ultra-modern pressure cooker – or revel in memories on the living room sofa. 

Get in - in a Trabi!

After leaving the house, you'll be in the Trabi area. Now a cult vehicle, you'll forget all about your own car. Turn the key in the ignition, hear the engine rattle and the pedals squeal as you press down on the accelerator. The 3D simulation in windscreen makes you feel like you're really driving past the shopping malls and prefabricated Plattenbau buildings of East Berlin. Finally, leave East Germany through a hole in the Wall.

Discover "Erich's lamp shop"

A special highlight is a model of the Palace of the Republic, built in great detail on a scale of 1:125 (200 cm x 130 cm). The Palace of the Republic was once the seat of the 
and a representative place for state ceremonies. At the same time, it offered cultural events, cafés and restaurants to the population.

The base of the model is made of original materials and the exhibition showcases display a variety of objects that convey the history of the place. An imposing lamp construction hovers above the heads of the visitors - also originals of the palace, which also went down in history ironically as "Erich's lamp shop".

Things not to be missed

• A ball used in an East-West Germany football match.
• A Volvo 264 TE from the ministerial fleet.
• A Socialist Unity Party conference table in the boardroom with touch screen.
• Prison cell with original items from Erfurt and Bautzen.
• Fogscreen with floating Plattenbau concrete slabs - a type of interactive canvas.

• The largest and most detailed model of the Palace of the Republic

   

Other points of interest in the area

The DDR Museum is located directly opposite Museumsinsel. The five museums here are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are recognised the world over for their valuable collections. Opened in 1830, you can see some of the best in art and culture from ancient Greece and Rome here. In the Neues Museum, meet one of the most famous women in Berlin: the bust of Nefertiti - a definite highlight of the Egyptian Museum. Then pay a visit to the late classicist building of the Altes Museum with its impressive staircase, where you can travel back in time to the early Romantic period and enjoy landscapes by Caspar David Friedrich. At the top of Museumsinsel, you will find the sculpture collection, the Museum of Byzantine art and the coin collection in the Bode-Museum. If you head in the direction of Alexanderplatz, it takes around 10 minutes to walk to the Fernsehturm (TV Tower). Take a 35 second ride in a glass lift to the top of Berlin's trade mark tower for fantastic views across city.

Our tips for your visit to the DDR museum

The DDR Museum is open daily, including Mondays. The best day to visit for a long tour is Saturday, as the house is open until 10pm. Groups, including school groups, pay a discounted price, and the Berlin WelcomeCard gives you a 25% discount. The Alexanderplatz junction is close to the museum, from where underground, trams and buses arrive, and it's 10 minutes' walk from there to the museum. Alternatively, take a tram to the Spandauer Straße/Marienkirche stop – the M4, M5 and M6 lines bring you almost to the entrance. There is an underground car park in Alexanderplatz. As with most car parks in the city centre, parking charges apply.

Tickets

Opening hours