Tuesday 14 June We though we’d keep today a little light and not do too much. We were keen to see the DDR Museum of life in East Germany. It took a while to get there because firstly we passed a motorcycle museum, and secondly we passed some clothing factory outlets.
The Motorcycle Museum focused on East German motorcycles, and almost exclusively MZ. The bikes were in excellent condition, even dating back before the 50s, but overall it was a bit disappointing – probably not my bag.
The clothing factory outlets seemed to hold Frances’ attention, and we left with only one pair of shoes which I thought was pretty good.
The DDR Museum of the former East Germany is billed as interactive, and to some extent it is, but more mechanical than electronic, with lots of objects and products from that era. The exhibition space is quite small and cannot cope with the large crowds of especially young people that visit. Some of the full size dioramas of average East Germans looked exactly the same as our family homes in the 60s. Maybe we were deprived as well – we’ll have to discuss this with our mothers.
It was interesting that nudism was very popular – analysed as a need to rebel against the oppressive regime. The content though was very good, with lots of physical examples of East German products. It was interesting to see packaging with prices printed on the labels – the price didn’t change for years. There were Lego-like bricks where you could build your own featureless apartment block. The exhibition text was presented in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way, but a little patronising. There were lots of examples of the restrictive and oppressive behaviour of the centralist and paranoid East German regime. It showed a lack of trust by the government of its own citizens – not unlike the Nazi regime.
The Motorcycle Museum focused on East German motorcycles, and almost exclusively MZ. The bikes were in excellent condition, even dating back before the 50s, but overall it was a bit disappointing – probably not my bag.
The clothing factory outlets seemed to hold Frances’ attention, and we left with only one pair of shoes which I thought was pretty good.
The DDR Museum of the former East Germany is billed as interactive, and to some extent it is, but more mechanical than electronic, with lots of objects and products from that era. The exhibition space is quite small and cannot cope with the large crowds of especially young people that visit. Some of the full size dioramas of average East Germans looked exactly the same as our family homes in the 60s. Maybe we were deprived as well – we’ll have to discuss this with our mothers.
It was interesting that nudism was very popular – analysed as a need to rebel against the oppressive regime. The content though was very good, with lots of physical examples of East German products. It was interesting to see packaging with prices printed on the labels – the price didn’t change for years. There were Lego-like bricks where you could build your own featureless apartment block. The exhibition text was presented in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way, but a little patronising. There were lots of examples of the restrictive and oppressive behaviour of the centralist and paranoid East German regime. It showed a lack of trust by the government of its own citizens – not unlike the Nazi regime.
Overall though I left with the message that the good guys won and the bad guys were the losers. Capitalism wins over Communism was the message. What was missing was some analysis of the integration of east and west Germans following the collapse of the DDR and the Berlin wall. How long did it take and is the process complete? It was not without a note of irony, that because of the cramped museum space, we had to scan our tickets again to get out – talk about oppressing the population! PS: Veronica, the toilet installation had taps like your mum's, but it was difficult to pull them off.
Here is a good article in the Guardian about the impact of reunification written on the 25th anniversary last year.
Photos from the Guardian
Our last major attraction was the Jewish Museum, located in a purpose-built extra-modern building. The building has a zig-zag shape and you wander through it like a maze.Also, there were some virtually empty rooms with expressions to encourage contemplation. The permanent exhibition is excellent but very dense, and we hadn’t allowed enough time to see everything – it would probably take half a day.
We decided to have our last Berlin dinner in Kreuzberg where there are almost too many restaurants to choose from. We settled on Morgenland which had a modern German cuisine, although it’s apparently a very old restaurant. Interestingly, the restaurant is owned and run by a Bangladeshi, as were the staff who were multi lingual.
Frances had Grilled Perch with rice and salad and I had Weiner Schnitzel with potatoes and salad. Both meals were excellent. The fish came with a lemon, olive and fennel sauce and Frances reckoned that it was the best meal she’s had in Berlin – the gin and pineapple cocktail may have helped. The Schnitzel was also excellent, thin and not oily and the potatoes had been cooked with onion and herbs. The couple of glasses of mediocre Cabernet-Merlot may have helped. We are definitely spoiled for red wine in Australia, none of ones we’ve had in restaurants in the Czech Republic or Germany have been very good – most people drink beer (lots) or white wine.
The salads were also good, with mixed vinaigrette and mayonnaise dressing – none of the sweetness that we’d been getting lately.
On our way back we stopped at our favourite gelato place. It is run by Italians and they have an excellent pear ice-cream. Tonight Frances tried the sour cherry and dark chocolate one that was almost black which got the thumbs up.
Parting photos from Berlin, some East German washing powder going down the drain. We're on our way to Poznań, Poland.
