Weihnachts Zauber and DDR Museum 11/24/25
We visited the DDR Museum this morning. The Deutsche Demokratische Republik is the official name of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. The DDR was controlled by the former USSR, and was a Communist state. Life for many people was good under Communism. If you did your assigned job, didn’t make any trouble, and produced children, then you had a steady paycheck, a decent small apartment, and you could afford necessities and the occasional trip to the Baltic Seashore. You were allowed to travel to other Communist controlled countries, so people from the DDR would meet up with their relatives in Czechoslovakia (currently the Czech Republic) or Hungary.
Sounds pretty great, right? Well, you also had constant telephone surveillance by the government, an economy that was doomed from the beginning and eventually failed, and a seven year wait for that car you could afford. Your movements were controlled. Children were indoctrinated into the political ideology. People who tried to organize against the policies disappeared, or were imprisoned and tortured. Military service was compulsory. You could “legally” refuse, but the penalties included torture and hard labor. Over 20% of the population defected to West Germany in the early years of the DDR. Then the USSR got smart and built a wall in 1961 to keep them in. They said it was to prevent “fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people” and its official name was the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart. The first wall in 1961 was a wire fence and some concrete, but people crashed their cars through it and ran to West Germany. They improved the wall with a better fence in 1962, better concrete in 1965, and an actual border wall in 1975. The wall had a large buffer area between the wall itself and the inner wall on the East German side. This area contained guard towers where people were shot if they tried to cross, an electric fence where people were electrocuted, dogs, anti-vehicle trenches, and beds of nails. They were serious about people not leaving. But again, if you have to build a wall to keep your happy citizens from leaving, you may want to take a look at your policies.
In the afternoon, we visited the Berliner Weihnachtszeit at the Rot Rathaus (Christmastime at Red City Hall) market. It’s located next to the Fernsehturm , Berlin’s famous TV tower, built in 1965 as a functioning TV tower and a symbol of Communist power. The sphere is supposed to represent Sputnik, the satellite the USSR launched in 1957 that bested the USA and started the space race. We may go up in it if we have time. Modern Berliners have come to embrace it and it is a beloved landmark. This market has a large Ferris wheel, an ice skating rink, and carousels. We grabbed a drink and took a spin around the stalls.
Later in the evening we went to the Weihnachts Zauber (Christmas Magic) market in Gendarmenmarkt. It is a beautiful market, with white tents topped by bright yellow stars, lots of white lights, a large tree, full scale indoor shops and restaurants, a stage with live performances, bands playing well known Christmas tunes, and lots of Glühwein. We had a nice warm dinner in one of the restaurants and strolled around the market. It was an enjoyable way to spend the evening.
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