N'OSTALGIE MUSEUM LEIPZIG

The N'Ostalgie Museum is an absolute must see during your holidays, especially since it was from Leipzig, let us remember, that a huge popular and peaceful uprising was organised at the beginning of October 1989, which would lead, a few weeks later, on a certain 9th November, to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The rest of the story, you know it. A year later, the two Germanies of the time officially reunited. But it is difficult to sweep away the German Democratic Republic, the one whose West Germans sometimes wrongfully mocked, the one that was nevertheless the living environment forced upon more than 16 million citizens for forty years. 500 metres from the main station, in the beginning of Nikolaistrasse, the N'Ostalgie Museum had the good idea of offering the public a journey back in time. Photos, videos, and above all realistic objects and staging to describe most of what was part of the GDR's daily life under Honecker's dictatorship. A pedagogical path that takes shape on two levels, over several exhibition rooms, thematic by theme. The founder of the museum, whose granddaughter proudly took over the project a few years ago, had at heart to discover or rediscover the key characteristics of this not so distant past. With as a common thread a visit full of authenticity, but also rich in shared emotions and humor.... In particular, we learn a lot about the propaganda of the time, the propaganda that infused people's minds from an early age: at school, during sports activities, but also during medical visits, among others. Focus on military uniforms, and more generally on the daily life of East Germans. A life punctuated by the Party's recommendations, a simple and organized life that was ultimately quite happy for many, despite the lack of freedom, despite the limited means of transport to travel individually, etc. In a lighter register, you will appreciate the space devoted to televisions, musical instruments, but also the close-up on household appliances and crockery that goes with them (sometimes of the dinette type), not to mention the tasty shelving of foodstuffs that cannot be found today. You will certainly also smile in front of the lounge area, which illustrates the typical furniture that the population had to furnish their interiors: ordinary and sad furniture most of the time, but also furniture that is sometimes more surprising, such as this red and yellow armchair that can be closed again like a Soviet space capsule. The N'Ostalgie Museum in Leipzig seems to reach those who visit it. The guestbook explodes with comments, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes forward-looking: "Die Zeit vergeht, das ist vorbei..." (Time goes by, it's all in the past...) it says. Or: "We'd like to take everything with us! "as a young visitor innocently writes. Finally, you should know that this gallery dedicated to the daily life of the GDR has a shop and a coffee corner, which allows those in a less hurry to prolong this successful return to the past.