I totally forgot to mention the awesome museum I went to in Berlin - it's called the Ddr Museum, and it's dedicated to showing how life was really like in Communist East Germany. They have all kinds of hands-on exhibits. It somewhat reminded me of the Communist Museum in Prague, but I actually think that this museum in Berlin felt more honest in its portrayal of communism. Here they didn't seem to have an agenda - they made fun of the ridiculousness, but were sure to point out when things had a positive slant too. It definitely wasn't pro-Communist, but the Prague museum had felt very anti-Communist. Does that make sense?
Anyway, they had a section with a car from the era - the Trabant. Apparently it had only two cylinders.
They also had a model house that you could go through - they had a living room, bathroom and kitchen. It didn't feel so much Communist as it did just 1960s. The kitchen had a sign that explained that women were equal to men 
officially under the regime, and they could hold jobs and whatnot. They were still tied to traditional gender roles, though, so basically they would work the same hours as their husband but then when they came home they had to do all the housework, childcare and cooking. Hmmmm...not so different from modern US surveys...
officially under the regime, and they could hold jobs and whatnot. They were still tied to traditional gender roles, though, so basically they would work the same hours as their husband but then when they came home they had to do all the housework, childcare and cooking. Hmmmm...not so different from modern US surveys...
They had "collective potty breaks" in kindergarten...every kid sat on a toilet all in a row, and no one could get up until the last one was done. This was supposed to "socialize" them, but at least one criminologist has blamed this practice for the extreme right-wing political trend they see in some adults who grew up in that era.
The best part of the museum, though, was the exhibit on vacations. Since the citizens of East Germany were very restricted in their travel, they could only go to other Communist countries. With these limited options, an interesting phenomenon developed - just about every vacation spot became a nudist spot! They had all these photos of smiling East Berliners totally in the buff - playing beach volleyball, follicking in the ocean, having picnics. Old people, kids, everyone - there were several family photos. It was hilarious! The Communist government tried to curb this exhibitionism, but to no avail - it's theorized that this was one way people under Communism were able to really liberate themselves from under the rigid rules.
I wanted to take pictures of the exhibit itself, but felt really awkward taking photos of naked people in pictures. I did snap a quick picture of the diarama with naked dolls, though - 
No comments:
Post a Comment