DDR Museum
When in Berlin, we visited the DDR museum which showed a lot of personal details of what it would be like to live in the DDR (AKA German Democratic Republic, or East Germany). The residents of the DDR lived under strict communism, and a planned economy. They were not allowed to go to West Germany, and because so many were leaving, they built the Berlin Wall.
Inside the museum was a full scale replica of a typical apartment from the DDR. These apartments were very standardized and built in large quantities. The apartment was very standard and had little creativity inside, but was a perfectly nice living environment. There was running water, TV, and radio, but few had phones. Everyone with a phone was being listened to by the secret police. They were forbidden from having board games such as monopoly because it was capitalist. People could tune their TVs to receive channels from the West but it was forbidden. The secret police would go to primary school and play the news theme song of the western media, and if kids knew it then that meant their parents watched western news. They may or may not be prosecuted for this.
There was one variety of car, and the waiting list was over 10 years to get one. This lead to a black market for the existing cars, which was also forbidden. Because of these strict rules, it makes sense that there were so many escapes. Those who accepted the system lived perfectly fine lives, but people who were rebellious or yearned for more freedom were closely monitored by the secret police. When the wall fell, many people from the east went to the west, went shopping, and came back to the east. They didn’t mind they were living in the east but they wanted the freedom to choose.
I thought the museum was really interesting, and it really helped me get into the mindset of what it would be like to live in the DDR. Personally I don’t think I would be able to stand it because I am a big proponent of freedom and personal choice over as many things in life as possible.
