Week 4 in Berlin, about things that can't be shown in pictures
On Tuesday, we went to the DDR Museum, which is, so far, my favorite museum from the whole trip. The program is almost ending, so I feel like this says a lot. The DDR Museum shows what daily life was like in East Germany after World War II and before the Berlin Wall came down. I found it fascinating because it did not only talk about politics in a very distant way. Instead, it showed the small details of people’s everyday lives: what they wore, what their homes looked like, what they watched, and what they were allowed or not allowed to read. One of the most interesting parts to me was how banned books were hidden behind a little curtain. It was such a simple display, but it made me think about how knowledge and imagination could become something dangerous under a controlling government. I was also surprised to learn that Disney comics were hunted down because they were seen as promoting capitalism. On Thursday, we went to the Schwules Museum, which is dedicated to LGBTQ+ history ...
