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In 1990 in the course of German reunification, the collections of the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte (MfDG), founded in East Berlin in 1952, were transferred to the DHM.

The project looked into the acquisition practice of the MfDG and studied above all such objects that came to this central history museum of the GDR through the unspecific method of transfer termed “Übergabe” (handover). This handing over often referred to objects transferred to the museum from state institutions and organisations of the GDR, such as ministries, mass organisations, or the People’s Police. Among these transferred objects there are some that came from specific SBZ/GDR contexts, such as expropriation in the framework of the land reform or in connection with the so-called Republikflucht – goods left behind by those who fled the GDR.

Also taken into account in the study are the networks of actors in politics, public offices and museums in the GDR who were responsible for handing over objects to the museum.