Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Friedrichstrasse 43-45; adult/concession €12.50/9.50; 9am-10pm; Kochstrasse)
The Cold War years, especially the history and horror of the Berlin Wall, are engagingly, if
haphazardly, documented in this privately run tourist magnet. Open since 1961, the ageing
exhibit is still strong when it comes to telling the stories of escape attempts to the West. Ori-
ginal devices used in the process, including a hot-air balloon, a one-person submarine and a
BMW Isetta, are crowd favourites.
Other galleries (all are multilingual) address NATO and its involvement in world conflicts
and global human rights struggles.
GALLERY
MAUER PANORAMA
€10/8/4; 10am-6pm Oct-Jul, 10am-7pm Aug & Sep; Kochstrasse)
Artist Yadegar Asisi is famous for creating bafflingly detailed monumental photographic
panoramas. At 15m high and 60m wide, his latest creation depicts the bleakness of everyday
life along the Berlin Wall on a random day in the 1980s. Standing on a scaffold in the West,
visitors get to look across the death strip and contemplate what it was like to live in the
shadow of barbed wire and guard towers.
The exhibit will run until at least spring 2015, possibly longer. Call or check the website.
MUSEUM
BLACKBOX KALTER KRIEG
3.50; 10am-6pm; Kochstrasse)
This small pop-up museum chronicles the history of the Cold War. Using photographs,
maps, original footage and recordings and various memorabilia, it seeks to explain how the
Berlin Wall fit into the conflict and how surrogate conflicts in Korea and Vietnam fuelled
the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union.
Organisers hope to eventually put up a permanent Cold War Museum on the site.
MUSEUM
STASI AUSSTELLUNG
030-2324 7951;
www.bstu.bund.de
;
Zimmerstrasse 90;
10am-6pm;
Kochstrasse)
How was East Germany's Ministry for State Security (Stasi) structured? How were people
spied on and by whom? How did the Stasi affect people's daily lives? Using case studies,
original artefacts and documents, this compact exhibit seeks to answer these questions and
