Everyday Life in the GDR

It was a dictatorship with no free elections, no separation of powers, and no freedom of travel. Millions of Germans lived in the GDR for 40 years—but how? How did this state function, where a roll cost 5 pfennigs for 40 years, yet bananas were in short supply? Where they built the tallest TV tower in Germany but didn’t have enough housing for everyone? Where they produced the most beautiful fairy-tale films but stripped critical artists of their citizenship?

The permanent exhibition “Everyday Life in the GDR” depicts the lives of people in the GDR during the 1970s and 1980s at work, in public, and in private. It shows how the SED regime shaped everyday life, how people coped with shortages and restrictions, and where they found spaces of freedom.

The exhibition’s themed rooms feature original objects integrated into everyday scenes. You can take a seat in a restaurant, a living room, or at a workbench to learn more about leisure and improvisation, housing construction, or working life in the GDR. Everyday objects in the exhibition are complemented by historical documents, eyewitness accounts, and contemporary film footage to provide a multifaceted view of daily life in the GDR.