Museum in der Kulturbrauerei

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Museum in der Kulturbrauerei is one of four museums of the Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland and is dedicated to the history of the GDR (East Germany). It is located on the listed grounds of the former Schultheiss brewery in Prenzlauer Berg, where beer was brewed until 1967. The present museum rooms once served as a stable, smithy and veterinary station for horses, and later as a furniture warehouse.

In the late 1980s, artists and creative people moved onto the site, and their regime-critical circles helped support the emerging civil rights movement. In 2005 the foundation took over the site, along with the Sammlung Industrielle Gestaltung (industrial design collection) housed there, and began to secure and catalog the holdings and renovate the rooms.

In fall 2013 the permanent exhibition "Alltag in der DDR" (Everyday Life in the GDR) opened. It sheds light on life in the 1970s and 1980s at work, in public and in private, and shows how people shaped their daily lives between SED rule, a shortage economy and private niches. Around 800 original objects and more than 200 documents are set in walk-in scenes such as a restaurant, a living room or a workbench, complemented by films and eyewitness accounts.

The Sammlung Industrielle Gestaltung comprises some 160,000 everyday and design objects from the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR and forms the core of the collection. In addition, the museum shows temporary exhibitions, for example on heavy metal in the GDR or the skateboarding scene in East and West.

Highlights

• Walk-in everyday scenes such as a living room, a restaurant and a workbench
• Trabant with rooftop tent and a work brigade diary
• Around 800 original objects on everyday life in the GDR in the 1970s and 1980s
• Free guided visits in ten languages
• Sammlung Industrielle Gestaltung with around 160,000 objects

Permanent exhibitions

• Alltag in der DDR – Staged theme rooms show how people in the 1970s and 1980s lived between state control, scarcity and private freedoms.

Founded

2013

Operated by

Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Director

Mike Lukasch

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission to the museum and all exhibitions; all guided visits are also free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Accessible entrance to the left of the main entrance; elevator to both exhibition levels. Travel wheelchair, walking sticks and folding stools available to borrow free of charge. Induction neck loops; sign language interpreters for guided visits free of charge (advance notice required). Accessible parking spaces on the grounds after registering with the visitor service. Website and guided visits in Easy Language.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities

Free family tour through the permanent exhibition (ask at the information desk) and the discovery trail "Seid bereit! – Kind sein in der DDR" for ages 8 to 12. Tours for parents with babies and toddlers (45 min.) with a space for nursing and changing. Strollers and baby carriers are allowed; because space is limited, a baby carrier is recommended. Baby changing table in the accessible restroom on the first floor, microwave in the tea kitchen.

Getting there & parking

Taxi stand near the main entrance on Knaackstraße.

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers
• Wi-Fi

No café of its own. Museum shop in the entrance area.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit