Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the 230-odd people murdered by the East German border guards, and there's a section
on human rights behind the Iron Curtain, but it's a jumbled, huge and rambling
collection, and not quite the harrowing experience that some visitors expect. Related
exhibits focus on the concept of freedom and non-violent protest in general, including
the Charter 77 typewriter and Mahatma Gandhi's diary.
Dalí - The Exhibition at Potsdamer Platz
Leipziger Platz 7 • Mon- Sat noon-8pm, Sun 10am-8pm • €11 •
T
0700 32 54 23 75 46,
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daliberlin.de • U- & S-Potsdamer Platz
hough Salvador Dalí had no real links with Germany or Berlin,
Dalí - The Exhibition
at Potsdamer Platz
is among the world's best exhibitions of the surrealist maestro's
work. On view are more than four hundred eccentric pieces by the versatile Catalan,
including paintings, sketches, books, films, sculptures, coins and even 3D installations.
Museum für Kommunikation
Leipziger Str. 16 • Tues 9am-8pm, Wed-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm • €4 •
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museumsstiftung.de • U-Mohrenstrasse
On the high-rise-lined arterial road of
Leipziger Strasse, a block west of its junction
with Friedrichstrasse, lies the former Imperial postal ministry, now home to the
Museum für Kommunikation
. he museum traces its roots back to the world's first
postal museum, which opened in Berlin in 1872 and moved into this Baroque palace
to share space with the postal ministry in 1898. When the building was damaged in
the war the collection was dispersed, and only after reunification and several years of
renovation did it reopen in its historic home in 2000. here's a lot more here than just
stamps; highlights include early examples of wax seals, postcards and stamps (such as
the famous Blue Mauritius), telephones, radios, film, telegraphs and computers. Much
7
THE UPRISING OF JUNE 1953
On June 16 and 17, 1953, Leipziger Strasse was the focal point of a
nationwide uprising
against the GDR's communist government. General dissatisfaction with economic and political
conditions in eastern Berlin came to a head when building workers (the traditional proletarian
heroes of GDR mythology) went on strike, protesting against longer hours for the same pay.
The first to protest were workers from the prestigious Stalinallee project, who downed tools to
march on the city centre, joined by other workers and passers-by. At Strausberger Platz they
swept aside Volkspolizei units and headed for Unter den Linden. From here, the now roughly
eight thousand-strong
demonstration
marched to the Haus der Ministerien - then the seat
of the GDR government. Here they demanded to speak to GDR President Otto Grotewohl and
SED General Secretary Walter Ulbricht. Eventually three lesser ministers were sent out to speak
to the demonstrators. Clearly alarmed at the scale of the demonstration, they promised to try
and get the work hours decreased. But by now the crowd wanted more, and began calling for
political freedom. After declaring a
general strike
for the next day, the protesters returned to
Stalinallee, tearing down SED placards on the way. Grotewohl's announcement rescinding the
new working conditions later that day failed to halt the strike, news of which had been
broadcast across the GDR by Western radio stations. About 300,000 workers in 250 towns joined
in, and East Berlin came to a standstill as a crowd of 100,000 people marched towards the
House of Ministries once again. Clashes with the police followed as demonstrators attacked
SED party o
ces and state food stores. The GDR authorities proved unequal to the situation,
leading the city's Soviet military commandant to declared a state of emergency. When
Soviet
tanks
appeared on Leipziger Strasse, they found their route blocked by a vast crowd that
refused to budge. After loudspeaker warnings that martial law had been declared, the first shots
rang out, leaving youths to confront the T-34s with bricks and bottles.
Street fighting
raged
throughout East Berlin for the rest of the day, and it wasn't until nightfall that the Soviets
reasserted control. At least 267 demonstrators, 116 policemen and 18 Soviet soldiers were killed,
and some 92 civilians (including a West Berliner just passing through) were summarily shot after
the
suppression of the uprising
. Some 14 death sentences and innumerable prison terms
followed, and 18 Soviet soldiers were executed for “moral capitulation to the demonstrators”.
