Central Committee of the SED – The Power Center of the GDR

Historian Dr Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk guides viewers through “lost places”, sites of remembrance and places of the future, linking historical context with current developments and personal memories.

The series is published regularly on the DDR Museum’s YouTube channel and sets out on location to search for traces of the past.

Shielded, heavily guarded and inaccessible to most: the former Central Committee of the SED at Werderscher Markt in East Berlin was the true centre of power in the GDR.

The new episode of “Orte Ost” explores who made decisions here – and what the building reveals about the workings of the SED dictatorship.

Historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk shows how the decisions of the ruling SED party affected people’s everyday lives. At the same time, the episode recounts the collapse of SED rule, the loss of power and the opening of the building in autumn 1989. Today, it houses the Federal Foreign Office. How does the significance of a building shift from a symbol of dictatorial power to a place of democracy? The episode shows how history is inscribed in the urban landscape and why it is worth taking a closer look.

What: Central Committee of the SED – Power Centre of the GDR

When: 7 April 2026, 4 pm

Where: ‘Orte Ost’ – film project with Dr Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk on the GDR Museum’s YouTube channel YouTube-Kanal des DDR Museum