The Secret Policeman's Other Museum
October 9, 2014 1:02 PM   Subscribe

Berlin Filter: I'm heading to Germany soon, and I was disappointed to learn that the Stasi Museum will be closed while I'm there. What's the next best destination for a tourist curious about the inner workings of the East German secret police?
posted by roger ackroyd to Travel & Transportation around Berlin, Germany (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
You can also tour the former Stasi prison in Lichtenberg.
posted by neat graffitist at 1:17 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


If you'll be going to Leipzig as well, comments from this post on the blue suggest the Museum in the Round Corner and I suppose the nearby Stasi Bunker Museum.
posted by sevenless at 1:22 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also came in to suggest the short train trip to Leipzig and the Runde Ecke museum. You can easily do it as a day trip from Berlin.
posted by corvine at 2:54 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's not on the English page, but:
Interimsausstellung

Während der Schließzeit können im gegenüberliegenden Haus 22 die Ausstellung "Die Friedliche Revolution in Leipzig" des Museums in der Runden Ecken sowie einige Teile der Ausstellung aus Haus 1 besichtigt werden. Die Öffnungszeiten entsprechen den normalen Öffnungszeiten des Museums.

"Die Friedliche Revolution in Leipzig" – Eine Wanderausstellung des Bürgerkomitees Leipzig e.V, Träger der Gedenkstätte Museum in der "Runden Ecke" mit dem Museum im Stasi-Bunker.
Die Ausstellung erinnert an die Ereignisse der Friedlichen Revolution 1989/90, der ersten gelungenen und gewaltfreien Revolution in der deutschen Geschichte.
Part of the exhibition will be available in Haus 1 and a travelling exhibition from the Museum in der Runden Ecken called "The Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig" is in Haus 22 across the street (I'm assuming that's what 'opposite' means--I haven't been there). They're open the standard hours. Given that they didn't bother mentioning this on the English page, I don't know that I would count on a ton of signage in English.

But the real answer is go to Lichtenberg. There's also a general DDR Museum, but I'm pretty sure it's a tourist trap.
posted by hoyland at 4:13 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


I went to the DDR museum in May and it's worth seeing.
posted by brujita at 6:40 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


I went on a tour led by a former prisoner at Hohenschoenhausen and it was a very moving experience. That was in German, if you can't speak German I'm not sure what your options are but it's worth looking into.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 9:47 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


Seconding Hohenschoenhausen, I was on an English tour. Convenient to Berlin, featured, I think, in The Lives of Others.
posted by Mngo at 12:22 PM on October 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


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