DDR Museum

It showcases key aspects of the former German Democratic Republic in a creative, hands-on way. Each section is carefully set up, and you can interact with almost every display, with clear explanations in both German and English. Open every drawer you see—each one is interactive and hides a surprise, from personal stories to everyday objects that bring the era to life. Original audio clips from the time are in German but sometimes explained in English, so you really grasp what life was like back then. If you want a true sense of daily life in East Germany, from work to home, leisure, and even sports, this is the place. Entry is free with the Berlin Pass, and you’ll need about 60–90 minutes to see everything. Highly recommended.

It was recommended that we visit this museum to learn what life was like for the German people. This was a very good opportunity to see what people lived through during that time. The museum is very interactive, so you can actually get involved in some of the activities. You can also dress up in some of the costumes that were available.

Highly recommend this extremely interactive and educational museum! The exhibits were hands-on and very interesting. The Trabant driving simulator was a bit confusing to work out though. The museum gives a pretty good idea of what life was like in East Germany especially through the recreation of the average apartment. The electronic displays with information had many languages to choose from, and the interactive electronic exhibits were well made. It takes about 1.5-2 hours to get through all the exhibits.

I’d give the DDR Museum 4 stars because, while it was definitely interesting and well put together, I personally felt it was a bit overpriced. The entry fee was €13, but the museum only has one main floor, and I finished seeing everything in about 15 minutes. The interactive exhibits were engaging, and it gives a good glimpse into East German life — no doubt worth seeing if you’re curious about the GDR era. However, for the price, I expected a bit more to explore. That said, this was just my experience — it could vary from person to person depending on how much time you like to spend reading and interacting with exhibits.

really interesting museum. Unfortunately thought it was very overcrowded so you couldn’t view all of the material and also quite expensive for entry considering how small it is which is a shame. I would also recommend buying tickets online as there was a long wait to buy them

This museum is a must! It is interactive so kids get engaged as well. It is a bit small so it can get crowded by times but it is amazing! It is also a very good option if you have a little bit of time in between other activities and you want to fill that space as it is doable in a short time (or not depending on how much you read, there is a lot of info). Our kids loved it and we had a great time, felt literally like time travel.

I visited on a weekday about one hour after opening, though it may have coincided with a school holiday, as the museum was quite crowded—particularly with families and lots of children. The museum is small but packed with fascinating information. However, when it’s busy, it can be difficult to navigate and fully view the exhibits, especially with many children as they tended to stay on exhibits for a long time. As a result, I didn't get to see many of them as I couldn't get close enough. My favorite part was the recreation of a GDR apartment—it’s well done and easy to miss, as it’s located down a hallway near the exit and gift shop. Unfortunately, I couldn’t return on a quieter day due to a short stay in Berlin. Entry was €10.15 with the Berlin Welcome Card discount. There’s also a clean, modern restroom on-site, which is a nice bonus.

There is a queue but it moves fast. There is alot of people inside also as well and you cannot bring big luggage inside and will be asked to store them. Small sling bags and bags are alright. This place showcases whay is life in the DDR, communist Germany at the period of the cold war. Very very interesting to see how communism actually affects the residents. Highly recommended.

We thought this museum was pretty cool. There was a lot of content inside and they have a nice collection of items from the era of the Berlin Wall. We liked the interactive and immersive aspects the best, and we spent about two hours inside. It is reading-heavy and a bit crowded, so if you don't like reading information or being around others, this might not be a place you'll enjoy. It was very informative, however, and we enjoyed it.

Open 9am to 9pm daily, 365 days a year, this museum is small but a fun, interactive and educational experience featuring the history, culture, and daily lives of people during the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) (or in English--German Democratic Republic, GDR). I arrived on a Sunday evening around 7:30pm, and stayed almost until they closed at 9pm. That proved a good time to go since there were only about a dozen other visitors in the museum in that duration. Tickets are €13.50 for full price, €8.00 for discounted tickets for students, disabled, military in service or veterans, and recipients of certain unemployment benefits + 7% VAT. Kids under 6 are free. Tickets are available online or in person; when I was there, there wasn't a line. Inside the museum isn't large, kinda like the size of a large retail store. They really pack it in with tons of information about the life and times of people living during the East German socialist era. From providing background on the political shift post WWII, there's information on how social and economic policies affected everyday transactions--commuting to work, grocery store purchases, print/audio/film media, school courses and extracurriculars, vocations, community events and organizations, military service and leisure activities. They do this with a gamut of interactive displays--there are countless cupboards and drawers that can be opened to display descriptions and memorabilia from that era, or other hands-on elements. Anything from replicated excerpts of magazines and newspapers, recreated canned food labels, audio recordings of propaganda, history on the government officials, to the toys children used to play with, recipes for commonly eaten food, etc... The recreation of a DDR apartment with different rooms--foyer, living room, dining and kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, plus a couple full sized cars that you can sit in--really helps to rewind the clock for visitors to comprehend how life was like. Would definitely recommend a visit! I left feeling very creatively educated on DDR times. Gift shop and bathrooms are available. Parking is available via nearby structure, also reachable by public transit S/U-bahn, bus or tram.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY - A SCAM VERSCHWENDEN SIE IHR GELD NICHT - EIN BETRUG I was very excited to visit the DDR museum and am so disappointed with my experience, I wish I could get my money back. Waited in long line to get a ticket. Counter appeared to be completely unstaffed. It is very crowded and dirty. Half the "exhibits" were broken or otherwise out of commission. In addition, it is clear that whomever runs the DDR Museum has no interest in educating visitors or providing an accurate historical account to visitors. The exhibits are poorly constructed and the informational panels make basic historical errors. As a student of history and museum curation, I am very shocked and disappointed by the bad quality of this museum, especially since it is so highly rated. This explains to me why it is not government accredited and instead ran privately. There are many fantastic museums in Berlin well deserving of your time and money, but the DDR museum is not one of them. Ich hatte mich sehr auf den Besuch des DDR-Museums gefreut und bin von meinem Besuch so enttäuscht, dass ich mein Geld am liebsten zurückbekommen hätte. Ich musste lange anstehen, um ein Ticket zu bekommen. Der Schalter schien völlig unbesetzt zu sein. Es ist sehr überfüllt und schmutzig. Die Hälfte der "Exponate" war kaputt oder anderweitig außer Betrieb. Darüber hinaus ist es offensichtlich, dass der Betreiber des DDR-Museums kein Interesse daran hat, Besucher zu informieren oder ihnen eine genaue historische Darstellung zu bieten. Die Exponate sind schlecht aufgebaut, und die Informationstafeln enthalten grundlegende historische Fehler. Als Student der Geschichte und Museumskuratorium bin ich sehr schockiert und enttäuscht über die schlechte Qualität dieses Museums, insbesondere angesichts der hohen Bewertungen. Das erklärt für mich, warum es nicht staatlich akkreditiert ist, sondern privat betrieben wird. Es gibt viele fantastische Museen in Berlin, die Ihre Zeit und Ihr Geld wert sind, aber das DDR-Museum gehört nicht dazu.

A great interactive museum with lots of information about what life was like in the German Democratic Republic. There is a lot of reading to do so I definitely recommend allowing yourself enough time to go through each section. I went at 3:30pm on a Wednesday and it was pretty busy, with so much interactivity and reading I do feel like I missed a little because of the crowd. Overall I recommend it if you have the time!

I'm not the biggest museum guy but this was really cool to see. At first I was a bit confused and thought GDR was west Germany, but this whole museum is about East Germany and the communist part before the Berlin Wall fell. As an American who is pretty much taught nothing about global history in public school growing up, I learned so much. A lot of things clicked for me that I didn't understand in the past. I like how interactive this museum is, like you gotta open cabinets and the reading is not too too dense. I truly learned a lot. It was cool to see the East Berlin housing establishment and how it functioned. The Bruce Springsteen music cabinet was sooo cool. Really nostalgic for me. I always heard of that song but I didn't know it was heard around the world. Bruce Springsteen has a lot of balls for playing "Born in the USA" in communist East Berlin. Also, that looked like an amazing crowd, wish I could time travel.

This was a really great way to learn more about the GDR and what people's lives were like who lived there. So many interactive exhibits, videos, photos, etc. Even my BF who isn't a big museum guy was glad we visited. Definitely a must-visit if you're in Berlin and/or have interest in WWII history and the time period before and after the war.

To be honest I was not so impressed with the DDR museum. I guess as a historian I expected more. However, some information is better then no information at all.

This museum seeks to uniformly portray life in the DDR as miserable, and every artifact is explained in that light. It backfires, though, because many of the displays are comparable or even better than life in capitalist societies at the time (eg the US). the prison cell, for example, looked better than a US prison cell of the time. The artifacts are nonetheless interesting.

This museum showcases East German lifestyle before unification and dang it was dreary. Lots of hands on things to do-open doors, pull out drawers and read signs, etc. It was crowded and lots of people were bumping into each other. It is an interesting slice of life thing, but I'm not sure what I thought about the whole experience.

Very interesting museum in a neat location close to Alexanderplatz as well as Museum Island. It is a small museum and if it's not crowded, you can probably do the entire thing in 90 min to two hours and that is if you read every drawer or door that you can open. This museum serves as a good primer for what life was like in East Germany after WW II. It's interesting to see how things started and then how they ended up. Good intentions only go so far, but you can't change human nature! Although most of the museum focuses on the bad parts of living in the DDR, it also sheds some light on some ideals (such as women in the workforce) that were actually pretty progressive even if the execution didn't quite work out as well as anticipated. The model apartment was very neat and made you feel like you were in an East German housing bloc when you walked in. The parts about industry in East Germany I found particularly interesting. There were a lot of smart people there who had to make due with limited resources and access to global technology so it's kind of amazing they were able to produce some of the things they did. Make sure you hold onto your ticket as you need to scan it when you exit through the gift shop. It's a little pricey for the size (my admission was almost €10, which seemed a lot for what you get) but as the museum was well done, I won't get too bent out of shape about it. Also, I went late in the evening, about 6:30 pm and finished about 10 minutes before closing time which was 8:00 pm and it wasn't too crowded then. Due to the small size, it can definitely get overcrowded so plan accordingly.

So glad I visited this museum. It's not large but is filled with memories, stories & exhibits of another time. Great for kids and adults, the museum brings Cold War life in the east to the present day. From here we wandered into the Soviet War Memorial and the German History Museum. Recommend a visit to all these if you are interested in knowing more about the last 100 years. Checkpoint Charlie is not worth seeing except for the novelty.

This museum is a neat, immersive way to get an overview into Cold War history in Berlin. The exhibits are very interactive so you get to experience what shopping, living and everyday life was like.

The DDR museum is a hands-on museum even little ones will enjoy. If you have the chance, purchase a timer ticket online to save a couple Euros and some time waiting in line. Remember to keep your ticket as you need to scan it once again to exit the museum to the gift shop. Up to two hours is more than enough time here. The museum is pretty small, but it's packed with information. Pull drawers or open cabinets to reveal interactive displays or reading material. Be prepared to read! The main attraction in the first small room was the simulated car where you had the chance to be the driver. The line for this can be rather long because there isn't anyone monitoring it. My favorite area had to be the various rooms in a house...was interesting to see and read how life was back then. Don't pull the red knob in the elevator or you'll be in for a surprise! C loves playing with the mini foosball table and the kindergarten room. He probably could have spent half the day playing in there! With the museum being so small, bring your patience as certain areas got crowded quickly. The DDR Musuem is definitely worth a visit!

I absolutely loved this extremely interactive museum. I did have to wait outside in the rain to get tickets but it was worth it. It was really crowded so I had to wait a few times at the exhibits to be able to open drawers and cabinets to see inside. There were English and German captions on everything. It was very interesting to read about the lifestyle of people in East Berlin behind the wall.

Hands-on museum that gives a glimpse of what life was like in Germany during the Cold War, including an example home. Very detailed and informative museum. There was a decent sized crowd, but we didn't have to wait for entrance on a Wednesday early afternoon. Entrance is a little pricey, and I only found out after that you can save 2-3€ by booking online.

Highly interactive museum highlighting the East a German DDR government era. Gives you insight and perspective on East Germany, it's people and culture. Lots of hands on exhibits, is quite fun. It is very popular, and gets really busy

It's easy to see the flaws in authoritarian communism, but apparently creating a museum highlighting those flaws is a more difficult endeavor. This was made apparent by the long queue outside the DDR (East Germany) Museum that greeted Scott and I when we arrived one rainy, Monday afternoon. It was a slow, hypothermic, breadline of a wait that winded its way into the underground entrance which resembled what I would imagine a Cold War-era bomb shelter to be like. Once we were in and given our daily ration - one 9.5€ entry ticket, we were on our way; on our way to discover the throws of daily pre-1989 East German life, including steroidal sports and cars with lawn mower engines. Did you know that East German kindergarten teachers made children poop together in solidarity? Amazing (100% true. Look it up). Another tid bit- East Germans loved sunbathing nude, and in the Baltic Sea of all places, where your nuts shrivel up from the first sight of seeing another East German nude. . . Totally kidding Merkel, you're great. The water is just really cold. But perhaps the most remarkable feature of the DDR Zee-um is the inefficiently of its exhibits. I'm talking cabinet after drawer of post-war, Stalinist realism. Every caption, video, and artifact required us to climb, duck, and lift our way to the information showcased, sort of like how the DDR itself made acquiring information a tall order. I was even dinged on the chin once by someone opening a cabinet too quickly near my face. Suffice it to say, Scott and I had had enough and we headed to the gift shop where Scott purchased two shirts for like 30€ each. Thank God for capitalism!

Do you know a college-aged child who un-ironically hangs a Soviet flag in his paid-for private college dorm room, while tweeting Leninisms and disdain for capitalism via his iPhone? Bring him to the DDR Museum! The DDR Museum is a celebration of the glorious years of the communist-run German Democratic Republic -- the country that existed from shortly after World War II, until the whole experiment spontaneously collapsed. By collapsed, I mean a wall literally came down and people flooded out of the cracks because communism is super fantastic. The museum is filled with the experiences one enjoys when the state controls the economy: Queuing up for empty stores, drinking coffee that isn't coffee, and driving the remarkable Trabant automobile - a semi-plastic micro-vehicle with an asthmatic two-stroke engine, brakes that break, no gas gauge, and a 10-year wait to buy one (for a year's salary). Your aspiring revolutionary can learn how kindergarten kids were made to poop together so as to reinforce the collectivist ideals upon which communism is based. They can watch profoundly optimistic state broadcasts which reminded citizens that despite their personal experiences, everything was better than it was in the countries they weren't allowed to visit. The museum recreates the living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and prison cells one would have experienced living in a communist state. Visitors can even pretend to be a member of the Stasi secret police, eavesdropping on conversations and building files on the miscreants and ne'er-do-wells who didn't share the People's Enthusiasm. There are games to be played, quizzes to be taken and absurdities to ponder. One can even look at a roll of phenomenally rough communist toilet paper and imagine what it would do to their delicate, capitalist bums. After 2-3 hours in the museum, any Stalin apologist should have a much better understanding of Marx's paradise. If they do not, then they should offer no protest when you declare your intent to evenly distribute all future tuition, allowance and inheritance. Was there an upside to communistic East Germany? Yes, everyone went to the beach naked as a form of peaceful protest, and there are lots of pictures.

Having crossed the Berlin wall from West Berlin to the East in the early 1980s, I was fascinated to return to Berlin last year. I was excited to be able to walk through the Brandenburg Gate, where I had to previously approach each side separately before. There are no more Ghost Stations and Checkpoint Charlie is now simply are marker on busy street. Part of my walk down memory lane was to visit the DDR museum. Here I revisited the cold war, steroid-fueled East German athletics, the Berlin Wall, GDR governance, and of course the Stasi. There's replicas, an actual Trabant car, displays, videos, pictures,fashion, and even an interrogation room. However,, it does require you to come to the exhibit, rather than the exhibit coming to you. This place is well worth your time and attention to a key part of global history. Plus you'll actually learn something. It's only 7 Euros to get in, doesn't take too much time, and has a really nice gift shop.

Its interactive to the point that you're pulling out drawers, cabinet doors, and sliding panels around at every section. They have a few computer programs scattered throughout to shake things up a bit. The car driving exhibit will draw a large crowd and will take some time to actually do. The fleshed-out homes of the East Berliners makes you feel immersed in their lives. I like that the majority of the exhibit focused on the social aspects of the East Berliner's lives rather than the politics behind it. I also like the fact that theres a giant hand sanitizer dispenser at the front, which you will want to use at the end of the show. Great exhibit thats worth going to.

I'm a huge cold war buff and was a little disappointed in this museum. I expected to see more stuff. But what was there and how it was laid out was very cool. Interactive. Best part about this place is the interactive Teraban business plan game. Basically, there is no way to run the plant without failure. On Weelends this place is packed. But even when busy, its easy to see everything. If you want to look at a good collection of East German good, go down the street a few blocks to the DDR motorcycle museum.

This a museum where you have good fun. And, growing up during the cold war, DDR, the Berlin wall, the border protection etc makes a visit at the museum like walking down memory lane. The museum has, among other things, a re-built a replika of the interior of a typical kitchen, bathroom and living room in DDR, around 1990. I'll tell you, that is not very far from what it looked in the west, but some 15 years earlier like 1975. The same goes with a lot of the things on exhibition in the museum, you remember them well but from far earlier days than 1990. There is also a Trabant car on display which you may get into and have an interactive drive on the the streets of Berlin. The museum itself is pretty small och based on the visitor being active, by e.g. pulling out drawers, opening lockers etc. It's fun for young and old. And - a very friendly staff! Thank you!

This museum strives to capture the zeitgeist of GDR. The interactive format keeps interest and I felt it a good use of time and money. I found the pull out drawers and realia thought provoking. How people were conditioned in this era, from a very early age if born into it, I think was the most impactful for me. I cannot imagine being conditioned to use the toilet in unison at kindergarten, for example. . . How does anyone even think up this concept? And furthermore, after the fall of communism, how does one, with such engrained conditioning, move forward? Yes, the museum gets crowded, which is problematic given its interactive nature. I noticed someone from the business (in previous yelp reviews) commented on closing hours, 20:00 on weekdays and 22:00 on Saturdays. Perhaps visiting during the late afternoon / evening will offer a less crowded visit. Wifi is free, and I enjoyed the film on a loop, if only to sit for a while, and check messages.

I don't go to museums that much during my travels unless it is a rainy day, unique to the city or architectural worthy. There are plenty of the same stuff in the city which I live so I'm fortunate. The DDR museum is completely worth it. You can easily get discount tickets so hunt around. It is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the time on the other side. It can get a bit crowded during mid-day so I'd say go earlyish or late-ish and save money on that 'skip line' ticket. It worth a couple hours exploring the museum but well worth it.

The DDR Museum does a good job depicting the social and cultural life in the GDR. The entire exhibit was interactive, from perusing a typical closet with Cold War era fashion to sitting in a prison bed. There is a lot to see and learn, and for €7, you're getting a very good deal. The museum is relatively small and can be done in 1-2 hours.

I had high expectations for this museum having read all the reviews it gets. Unfortunately, lots of other people seemed to have read the reviews - leading to it being very overcrowded. The exhibition is interesting, with lots of interactive exhibits demonstrating what it was like to live in Eastern Germany (driving a trevvi, walking into kitchens, radio and cinema exhibits). However, the large number of visitors mean that you can't interact as much as you'd want. Might be better to visit when it's quiet?

In a city of fantastic museums, DDR does not disappoint in a very hands on, fun-for-the-whole-family kinda way. Admission = €9,50 adults, €6 kids Hours = 10am - 10pm. Budget approx 1 - 2 hrs to complete. To avoids big crowds, best to go between 6pm - 10pm as the museum layout is compact and it can get bananas crowded. HOT TIP: skip past the log-jammed beginning bits & jump to a less crowded section. Smart fun interactive elements make it this museum never boring. Fascinating look into life in former East Germany, from daily cleansing rituals to nude sunbathing craze to Sport. Hang onto your QR code ticket as you'll need it to exit through the gift shop.

The interactions and format of the museu are interesting. However, I believe museums should present different angles and points of a view about the topic they are exploring, and this doesn't happen at all at DDR Museum. The museum makes it very clear that, in its opinion, the DDR life was bad. The tone of the texts in the museum walls is ironic and disrespectful. At some point, I couldn't read it anymore, as it was simply so biased. At least the critics could have been based in good arguments, not the ones the museum presents. I seems to me that the museum needs to talk and include more people that had different experiences living in the DDR in different parts of Germany, not only in East Berlin. I would love to see different opinions of life then from people who actually lived it. That is really missing.

I found the DDR an incredibly informative and unique museum. Where you may not get as much depth and politics, as you would say from Checkpoint Charlie, the DDR is wonderful and is a brilliant example of how a museum can keep both adults and children engaged and entertained. Small children don't want to read board after board of lengthy dates and information, they want to touch things and get involved. I don't even have any children and I could appreciate how rare and wonderful that aspect of the DDR was. Yes it is a little compact, but it is also very cheap to get in, a lot cheaper in fact than a lot of the other smaller museums I visited in Berlin, and so great value for money. There are so many fantastic in depth, historical and political museums in Berlin that the DDR provides a little light relief from what can be a lot of dark and extremely emotive exhibitions.

What a fun museum. First of all, this is a museum dedicated to the former East Berlin. The lifestyles, the jobs, the social movements, the fashion, entertainment and eventually the fall. Secondly, the entire thing is interactive so you get to open draws, push buttons, sit in cars and do all kinds of fun other things. They have projections with footage, radios that you can listen and a "Stasi Prison" interrogation cell fit with a set-up where you put your elbows on a certain spot on the table and cup yours hand over your ears you can hear an interrogation in process (in German). There a few things holding it back from 5 stars. First, it is a little small and I could see it getting packed during whatever the peak Berlin travel season is. Secondly, it is one of the museums not included in the "Museum Packages" so you have to pay to get in (it's 7euros). That said, totally worth it and a really fun museum.

Interactive, informative, inexpensive and, dare I say it, fun in all things communist! The DDR is dedicated to life in the GDR, which provides a strong basis of knowledge and juicy tidbits when wandering Berlin's epically historical streets. It gets busy even in January hindering the impatient types who want to open every drawer (yes, many drawers filled with exhibits). Also, I want a Trabant; it's a car in the GDR (poetry, comrades).

This museum is rather small and the price (€9.50 for adults) can seem steep for the size, but given the proper time and attention, it's worth the cost. I came here on a cold, drizzly day and, unfortunately, the museum was absolutely mobbed with people. Parts of it were so packed, I had to avoid them altogether. What makes this museum special is its recreations of rooms in a way that represented the period. Open every cupboard and drawer you can, too, for inside will be information sheets and interactive displays. For me, this is what set this museum apart from others. There were many hidden areas which, once opened, would show you more information about the topic. Make sure to take your time and investigate these interactive areas. In the period-accurate apartment, also be sure to soak up the recreated GDR feel. Worth a visit when it's less busy. On rainy days and during peak times, perhaps avoid and come back later.

This a small and crowded museum of DDR memorabilia. You can barely move for all the people. The exhibits are mostly all In English too but annoyingly 'interactive' requiring opening lots of small drawers and doors. You won't miss anything if you skip this.

Based on the previous reviews for this museum, my dad and I decided to go to this one museum during our trip. Unfortunately, I wish we would have picked a different one. It was very crowded when we went and overall hard to see all of the information because of the amount of people. Despite the crowdedness, I wasn't that impressed with the "interactive" portion of the museum. Most of it was just opening up or pulling out drawers which is more annoying than interactive when you are surrounded by so many people. The exhibits that I did get to see, I felt like it kept repeating the same information, or it was just pretty obvious information that didn't need to be gone into detail. If you prefer learning information/seeing things that cover a wide variety of information I would choose a different museum.

Probably my favorite museum in Berlin, mostly because I hate museums. The DDR is basically a museum dedicated to the daily lives of people in East Germany under Communism, including things like schooling, housing, and culture. It's interactive, meaning you can press some buttons, listen to audio on headphones, open up drawers/cabinets for more displays, sit in an old car, or even go inside a replica prison cell. It's not a big museum, so it will get crowded fast. If you have kids, they'll love it. Also, if you have a WelcomeCard, you can get a discount!

Not impressed by this museum. It was quite small, crowded and prizes "interactivity" over narrative or content. "Interactive" here means you open a drawer to read the sign and watch a tv inside - very strange design. I opened at least 100 drawers and cabinets here, and I don't know the benefit to this as opposed to removing the door and letting you read the signs inside. I found the information confusing as it didn't present a consistent narrative or timeline. Stuff from the 50's and 50's was mixed with the late 80's, and it was hard to distinguish. The museum was very focused on the lifestyle of the people of east Germany - what organizations they were in, and what products were available, etc. there's not much of a political history which is I guess what I wanted. they have some items from east Germany you can touch like a Trabbant and some books and toys.

Super interactive and fun museum. I found it a little hard to follow though and ended up doing the museum backwards. Not sure if it's meant to be done anyway you want or in a linear way. Really enjoyed it though!

One of my favorite museums in Berlin. Although not very large and can be viewed within 1-2 hours max, but what makes it special is how interactive it is. You can drive a Trabi, open wardrobes with East German clothes, sample the only 50% coffee 'Kaffee Mix', get locked up in a Stasi cell, and sit on the bureau of an SED functionary receiving angry calls from your party leaders. Totally recommended.

This was by far one of my favorite museums in Berlin and no, DDR doesn't stand for the popular "dance dance revolution" game. This is pretty cool as it's not your typical historical museum where you walk around and you're bored out of your mind. Instead, this museum is interactive and is focused on the social and cultural differences between East and West Berlin. I came here on my last night in Berlin. Prices aren't bad- especially if you have a student id! I came here by myself before meeting up for dinner with friends and I really enjoyed my time here. It's really possible to go through each exhibit, actually I encourage it! If you are coming with children, this is a great place to take the whole family. It really made me appreciate the luxuries and things in our everyday lives that we take for granted because they were not necessarily available to those living in communist East Germany. You also have to realize that the division lasted for many decades. It's pretty easy to find as this is right across from the Berlin Cathedral and also near Museum Island. This museum is pretty worth it, especially if you have about 1.5 hrs to spare. Very interesting and a different type of museum!

Mind blown. This is a comprehensive nosedive into life in the DDR. Museum itself is small but jam packed with fascinating exhibits that are engaging and even funny at times. Every piece of life is looked at through the lens of the East German value system, from sex to politics to media and kitchen tools. There's something for everyone. I spent three hours here but easily would go back for more. Gets crowded very quickly, show up early! Student discount so I got in for 6€. Just go.

DDR Museum is very interesting and showcases what life was like behind the Berlin Wall under Socialism. It's quite interactive with lots of displays you can touch and play with, so youngsters will love it, but it's good for adults too. There are rooms recreated and furnished just like an authentic 1970/80s WBS 70 high rise apartment tower block. However, depending on how old you are some of the rooms won't look that unfamiliar - I remember lots of furnishings and household items from my own Northern Irish childhood! This museum is full of old cars, motorbikes, food packaging and fascinating information. Though it was extremely busy and quite difficult to get close to artefacts and displays to look at them properly or read information - this is a Museum which really should limit visitor numbers to ensure people can utilise it properly. My advice would be to go very early in the day to avoid the huge crowds of tourists...

I love this museum - there aren't a lot of resources about daily life in the DDR, and, as someone born after the Wall fell, it's hard to imagine. the museum is interactive and, for the most part, objective. you can indulge in "ostalgie" for trabis and other extinct DDR relics, but the museum is also candid about the failings of the DDR's policies and its blatant disregard for human rights. I do wish there was more about the state-sponsored drug use among Olympic athletes (and the fact that many athletes didn't know they were being drugged at all), but I can understand the omission since that information is pretty widely known already. the museum's one big flaw is that it's pretty small, and, while it's cheaper than the museums on museum island, it still seems a tad overpriced considering the size. the size also means it gets filled up easily, and being there at the same time as a huge crowd really puts a damper on the experience. I still think it's worth checking out, but definitely not before the Pergamon or Neues Museum.

Great museum, even for those that wouldn't consider themselves fans of museums! The information is presented in a fun, sarcastic kind of way, which makes the history accessible to everyone who pays a visit. The admission prices are very reasonable. I like that it is not a huge museum because I felt like I was able to see everything and engage with all of the exhibits. But dear God, do not attempt to come here mid-summer. I loved the place when I came in December and it was not that full, however, it was very stressful and not enjoyable when I came 7 months later mid-July.

The most important tidbit: go early! If possible, go right when it opens. Given the interactive concept of the museum, it gets crowded and can take a while to go through if you're dealing with long lines of people waiting to see or do something. This museum is fantastic. As I said, it is very interactive, which makes it great for people of all ages. You can even sit in a Trabant and take a virtual drive in a real Trabbi. It's so interesting to be able to see the interior of them and see just how sparse the dashboard was. There is so much more, though, including a scale model of the Berlin Wall, namely the huge gap in between the East and West sides. It also shows how different the buildings and construction were in the two countries. Everything is labelled too, helping people to figure out what purpose each wall served, for example. All facets of DDR life are covered, too. There are the outfits children would wear, and information on how the scarves the boys wore had to be tied. Different jobs available to an East German are covered, too, as is the technology. It is interesting to see how the DDR was always at least a few years behind the rest of the Western world, including the BRD. The food and drink sold in the DDR are here, too. If you have seen the movie "Good Bye, Lenin!" you'll already be familiar with some of it. Multiple televisions are lined up, each showing a different popular show in the DDR, from a children's cartoon to something that reminded me a lot of Solid Gold. There is even an actual old school typewriter, not behind a glass case but out for anyone to try out and see what life was like before electric typewriters or even computers. The voting process is explained, rather neutrally in my opinion, stressing how it was made nearly impossible for an East German to not vote for the majority power (hint: your only choice was to refuse to vote by crossing off every name on the ballot). The sort of upper class of DDR is mentioned, and that despite its communistic government, there was actually inequality. There is even a replica of a questioning room one would find at a police station, complete with a bright light for intimidation. It sounds lamer than it really is, but being in there gives you an idea of the methods the police would use to get information out of people. There is also a replica of a prison, showing the cramped quarters. There is no language barrier here, either. Everything is shown in English and German, although of course any audio or visual elements are only in German. However, the signs next to these explains what you're hearing and seeing, so if you speak no German you will at least know what you're looking at. The gift shop is great, too, with loads of books, maps, and even DVDs and such. One must-buy is a green Trabbi - they're good luck! ;)

A thank you to Robert from DDR for your comments and informing yelpers. Lovely to see the DDR active and helpful on their reviews. I went on a Monday at 6pm(ish) it is of course the holidays in Berlin, but just initially it was rather cramps and busy the thin corridor meant overtaking to come back wasn't really an option. I had also just been to the history museum before which is almost ridiculously big so really felt the crowd at first. That said it did clear by the last room but did miss out on things because of queueing which was a shame. Thanks Robert and do hope to experience the DDR again one day.

This is a fantastic museum and worthy of the admission price! The information is presented in an interactive way that makes it fun (despite my later comments) and there are displays that go along with all the information. A replica movie theater and home, tons of relics and antiques and even the chance to 'drive' a car! I, embarrassingly, didn't know very much about the Berlin Wall or life in Germany before visiting and I found this museum fascinating and I learned more here than any other stop in Berlin. So glad we stopped here. The only fault of the museum is that even it is almost 'too interactive' for the amount of people that visit it. While pulling out drawers and lifting flaps is neat and fun and a great way to make learning stick, it is annoying when you are trying to read the same thing as 12 people other people because it is so crowded. The person holding the flap open inevitably finishes reading it and closes while you are still reading... or you have to awkwardly hand off in order not to lose your place. The museum is also small and hard to navigate when stuffed full with 200 high schoolers. I skipped half of the information just because I didn't want to wait 12 people deep to read it. My tip is to try and visit when school is not in session and taking field trips.

I've traveled to a good number of countries and cities abroad and in doing so, I've visited my fair share of museums. This was honestly one of the best museums that I've ever been to. I absolutely loved that it was "100%" interactive. I absolutely loved the fact that I could see, feel, and truly experience how life must have been in East Germany. I also loved the fact that the gift shop even carried East German goods! This museum is a bit on the cramped side and since it's quite popular, it was rather crowded when I went to visit it just a few weeks ago. Lots of school aged children, it seems, were on field trips to the museum. Nevertheless, I got my chance to see and experience nearly everything that the museum had to offer. I've never been to such an interactive museum before and I would recommend it to anybody visiting Berlin in a heartbeat.

If you have 4 or 5 days in Berlin this is worth seeking. But there is not much to see. They basically explain how bad life was in the Communist East Germany

I loved this museum. You might expect that a museum on DDR would be hard to pull off, that this might just be a series of dusty objects from East-Berlin put behind glasses, but it is far from it. The place in itself is rather small but there are plenty of things to discover. The museum is entirely built on interaction with objects: you open drawers and doors to find objects and information about everyday life, you can pretend to drive a Trabant, you can sit in a typical living room from East-Germany and watch TV, ... It is as much informative as it is interactive: many aspects of DDR are treated from everyday life (school, the media, food, clothes, ...) to politics. When I came into the museum I didn't know very much about life in DDR, so I feel that I've learned a lot. And I must say that I did see East-Berlin with new eyes afterwards.