Borders, Violence, History

The tour through selected exhibition rooms presents rare objects from the collection that illustrate the history of German division, flight and violence. It spans the period from a family’s flight into religious exile during the confessional schism of the Holy Roman Empire to a boundary stone marking a city divided after 1914 on the German-Dutch border. In this way, experiences of flight and border crossings within Germany are examined even before the well-known division of Germany during the Cold War. The highlight of the tour is the original diary of the student Peter Rutzen from 1963. Using city maps, newspapers and eyewitness accounts, the tour brings to life the perilous attempt to dig an escape tunnel beneath Bernauer Straße. But their efforts were in vain: even before anyone could escape through the tunnel, it was betrayed to the Stasi. This led to numerous arrests in East Berlin.