Museum Pankow

Current exhibitions

About the museum

Museum Pankow brings together the historical work of three former districts. In Prenzlauer Berg, a local history cabinet was set up in the Ernst-Thälmann-Park in 1986; it became a local history museum in 1990 and in 1992 merged with a tradition cabinet into the “Prenzlauer Berg Museum für Heimatgeschichte und Stadtkultur” (Prenzlauer Berg Museum for Local History and Urban Culture). At the end of 1999 it moved into part of the former 10th primary school at Prenzlauer Allee 227/228. In Pankow, rooms at Heynstraße 8 had been used as a museum from 1974, and in Weißensee there was a city history museum, which closed in 2004.

After the district of Pankow was formed in 2001, the sites initially remained together as a “museum network” under one roof. In 2003 the event and exhibition hall, renovated with EU funds, and the redesigned inner courtyard opened. Since 2011 the house has been called “Museum Pankow. Regionalgeschichtliches Museum für Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg und Weißensee” (Regional History Museum for Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee); it is an institution of the district office.

The main site is the former school building completed in 1886, which also houses the city library and the adult education center. The permanent exhibitions on the district's history are on the second floor, with the archive, depots and reading room above them. Other exhibition sites are the middle-class piano nobile at Heynstraße 8, a tenement-house exhibition at Dunckerstraße 77, and the exhibition on the Stadtgut Blankenfelde.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition “Gegenentwürfe” on Prenzlauer Berg before, during and after the fall of the Wall
• Exhibition “Zeitbilder” with photographs from the district, 1949 to 1990
• Family history of the Prager family between Prenzlauer Berg and Shanghai
• Middle-class piano nobile at Heynstraße 8 (currently closed for renovation)
• Archive with reading room and library on district history

Permanent exhibitions

• Gegenentwürfe. Prenzlauer Berg vor, während und nach dem Mauerfall – The exhibition shows how a counterculture and opposition developed in Prenzlauer Berg from the 1970s onward, and how the district experienced the Peaceful Revolution and the years that followed.
• Zeitbilder. Leben in Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg und Weißensee 1949 bis 1990 – A selection of photographs from the museum archive and from amateur and press photographers illustrates everyday life in the district; the panels hang in the stairwell.
• Ein Ruf aus der Ferne – Die Familie Prager aus Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg – The exhibition tells the story of a Jewish family that fled to Shanghai in 1939 and stands for the many Berliners who were driven out.

Operated by

Bezirksamt Pankow von Berlin – Amt für Weiterbildung und Kultur

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission at the main site is free. At the Dunckerstraße 77 site, admission costs €3, and €1.50 for children and young people up to 18 years old.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Weekend offers specially for families, as well as programs for school classes; selection on the website under “Angebote für Familien” (Offers for Families).

Getting there & parking

The museum is located in the Sebastian Haffner Cultural and Educational Center, a few hundred meters from Kollwitzplatz.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit