remembering the GDR

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Last weekend turned out to have the curious theme of GDR memory. On Saturday night I went to a bar with Natalie and her boyfriend, who is visiting, that was full of GDR kitsch--posters and banners and bottles and all manner of GDR decorated paraphernalia decorated the walls, and I got a coaster in the shape of a red star with my beer. It was all very congenial and cozy and fun. But, before I could get to carried away with GDR nostalgia, I was reminded of the much darker side of GDR life when I visited the former Stasi (secret police) headquarters on Sunday, where there is now a museum and memorial to those who were tortured, killed, and imprisoned in their opposition to the regime. They had some interesting exhibits showing spying apparati Stasi agents used and lots of interesting banners and other materials about opposition groups. I think the most striking part, though, were the offices, which have been left intact on one floor of the museum. They just looked so thoroughly normal, so banal, so perfectly unthreatening. There is even a small kitchen and a lounge with a TV and comfy chairs in the office, it looks perfectly welcoming. But of course, all this coziness only made it seem all the more sinister, as one has to imagine plans being hatched to silence opposition over cups of tea brewed in the cute little kitchenette. Also, the entire building is part of this huge complex of buildings that now house, among other things, central offices for the German national train system. It being a Sunday when I was there, the entire complex was deserted, and I walked in among these very square, plain, yet imposing buildings and giant empty parking lots, feeling like I was trespassing. It was not easy to find the museum; there is a small sign, but it is only visible when you are already basically at the door. So I spent some time walking around looking, giving myself the heebie jeebies by imagining that the Stasi was still in operation and were watching from the windows above and getting ready to nab and question me as to my presence there. Weirdly, the empty courtyard was the creepiest part of the whole experience, as once you enter the office building, it is impossible not to feel that you are just in a rather dusty and outdated office, maybe an accountant's office (Jacobson Lawrence came to mind), but certainly not a headquarters for a secret police, despite the exhibits of all manner of tiny spying and listening devices and GDR propaganda.

Pictures to come; I can't upload them at school and have to go to the internet cafe, so check back here in a few days if you want to see cool pics from both the bar and the Stasi museum.

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Photos

Tagung
The bar for total GDR kitsch.

GDR Tapestry
Propaganda in the form of a woven rug, on display at the former Stasi headquarters!

Book Bomb
How the GDR dealt with political oppostion. Not pretty.

Opposition Pamphlets inside a Bike Tire
Here on display in the former Stasi headquarters is an example of how political opponents of the GDR regime hid oppositional literature as they moved about the city to distribute it. Pretty ingenious!