Permanent Exhibition
Foto: Museum Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg is a district of diversity. Many different things come together here: village, city and large housing development, neighborhood and world history, people of different backgrounds and interests. It is a district in motion that continually reinvents itself. Our permanent exhibition is inspired by this. It is adventurous and has multiple points of view. It does not present ONE opinion, but instead provides different perspectives of Lichtenberg. It does not follow ONE history, but instead illuminates many different facets. It provides points of orientation to understand how Lichtenberg became the district that it is today.
The permanent exhibition of Museum Lichtenberg is → designed inclusively and has numerous interactive stations.
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The permanent exhibition recounts what makes Lichtenberg so special. The focus here is placed on the topics of working, living and changing, which can be experienced in four exhibition spaces:
WHAT talks about the historical events of the district.
WHERE presents the diversity in the different neighborhoods.
WHO revolves around people and is open for new ideas with a creative island.
WOW presents surprising things from Lichtenberg
Die neue Dauerausstellung im Museum Lichtenberg wird gefördert aus Mitteln der LOTTO-Siftung Berlin.
Das Vorhaben „Umrüstung der Beleuchtung auf LED im Museum Lichtenberg“ (Projektlaufzeit: 11/2019 bis 03/2021) wird im Berliner Programm für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (BENE) gefördert aus Mitteln des Europäischen Fonds für Regionale Entwicklung und des Landes Berlin (Förderkennzeichen 1285-B2-K).
The Beginnings 1900–1933
The chimneys are smoking. Thousands found work in the factories in Lichtenberg. The strong economic growth is accompanied by a rapid upswing in science and research. Progress is palpable everywhere: technological innovations accelerate everyday life; new media transform the view of the world. It is a beginning that changes the familiar ways of living and the awareness of the people. They begin to demand their rights. In Lichtenberg, the working class attains self-confidence. The workers join forces and organize themselves into associations, political organizations and unions. Lichtenberg becomes a center of the labor movement.
Karlshorst
Karlshorst, located in southern Lichtenberg, is a place of astonishing contradictions. Since 1894, a horse racing track has attracted visitors to this suburb of Berlin. Beginning in 1894, the Emperor arranged for affordable housing developments to be constructed as a social model project. Karlshorst also quickly developed into a hotly desired residential district for Berliners who were better off. Numerous villas and manors were built here.
In 1945, Karlshorst became a site of world history: on May 8, 1945, representatives of the German armed forces signed the unconditional surrender of Germany here in the officers’ club. With this, the Second World War came to an end in Europe. This is still commemorated today in the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst.
The Soviet Army marched into Karlshorst in April of 1945 and declared the entire residential district a restricted zone. From this time, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany ruled from Karlshorst. In addition, the German headquarters of the Soviet secret service KGB was located here from 1954 until 1991, which was the largest KGB headquarters outside of the Soviet Union. The Soviet military forces did not leave Karlshorst until 1994.
The traces of the nearly 50-year presence of the occupying powers are still visible today, even if residential life has long since become the area’s focus. Former military locations like the Festungspionierschule (military cadet school) have been converted for residential purposes. In addition, the residential buildings in the district have been thoroughly renovated, the infrastructure has been expanded and housing development projects have been realized. And so Karlshorst has once again become a popular residential district with many people moving into it, especially young families.
Oskar Ziethen
The local politician Oskar Ziethen (1858 – 1932) is known as a pioneer of modern Lichtenberg. He led the rural community along the path to become an industrial metropolis and part of Greater Berlin. As a community leader, he organized and accompanied this ascent in a significant way beginning in 1896. Under his leadership, institutions such as hospitals, schools, the city hall and the district office, water and electrical utilities were built in a very short time. He also expanded the traffic routes and created favorable conditions for the establishment of trade and industry. His ambitious work paid off: people came to Lichtenberg along with the industry and the community grew to 70,000 inhabitants by 1907. The Emperor granted Lichtenberg a town charter in the same year. Thus, the former village became the city of Lichtenberg – and in 1908 Ziethen became its first mayor.
Ilse Stöbe
The Lichtenberg resident Ilse Stöbe (1911 – 1942) was a member of a resistance network during the Third Reich. She worked as a journalist and for the information department of the Federal Foreign Office. She forwarded the information collected there to the Soviet news service, but her warning about the pending ambush by the German armed forces on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 was ignored. She paid for her resistance to the Nazi regime with her life. When the Soviet secret service tried to contact her after the invasion of the German troops, the Gestapo found out. Stöbe was arrested in September 1942 and sentenced to death in December of the same year by the Reich Military Court. She was hanged in Plötzensee on December 22, 1942. Years later, the GDR Ministry for State Security took up her story and dedicated a monument to her.
