„Sammeln für Deutschland“? Das Museum unter vier Staatsformen Themenführung zum „Internationalen Tag der Demokratie“, 15. September

The tour through the exhibition’s section on the history of the museum offers insight into how collection and exhibition practices have evolved throughout German history under various forms of government. It begins with the suits of armor in the Imperial Hall of Fame and continues through the last field uniform worn by Emperor Wilhelm II in the Nazi Army Museum, all the way to the Soviet “Flag of Kryvyi Rih” in the Museum of German History of the GDR.

Matthias Koeppel’s famous painting “… and everything will be fine again” ironically illustrates the reunification of Germany. The museum, now finally unified, also offers a retrospective look at the long and hard-won journey toward becoming a democratic, multi-perspective museum.

The DHM continues this exemplary curatorial practice to this day in the second part of the exhibition. A bunk bed from an initial reception center for refugees stands at the end of the tour. It was added to the collection in 2016 by Walter Lübcke, whose subsequent murder by right-wing extremists also highlights the persistence of anti-democratic ideology.

Tour times: 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Duration: 60 min.