“Babylon Berlin”: Deutschlandmuseum Brings the 1920s to Life
Das neue „Bulletin-Board“ im Bereich „Weimarer Republik" im Deutschlandmuseum Berlin.
© Photo: Carl Ansgar Herkner
(eap) To coincide with the launch of the final season of the TV crime series “Babylon Berlin” on 10 September on the ARD Mediathek streaming platform, the Deutschlandmuseum at Leipziger Platz in Berlin is putting a special focus on its immersive area dedicated to the Weimar Republic – one of a total of twelve historical sections at the interactive museum.
Since the Deutschlandmuseum opened in 2023, visitors have been able to immerse themselves in a shopping arcade from the “Golden Twenties”, featuring authentically designed façades and contemporary objects. The experience has recently been expanded with a digital “Bulletin Board”. Several visitors can use the interactive installation simultaneously to analyse original leaflets and propaganda from the period in which the first episodes of the successful German TV production are also set. Effects such as wind and a paper-like visual design complement the Bulletin Board, adding another layer of authenticity to the atmosphere of this historical section.
The Weimar Republic area also invites visitors to help solve a criminal case. By taking part in a quiz, they encounter different social milieus of Berlin at the time, reminiscent of the crime stories portrayed in “Babylon Berlin”. Interactive elements play a central role throughout the Deutschlandmuseum, with the tour taking visitors from the Germanic peoples and the High Middle Ages to the German Empire, National Socialism, the division of Germany and the period of the two German states, before concluding with German reunification.
Robert Rückel, Director of the Deutschlandmuseum and the neighbouring German Spy Museum, explains: “One of the reasons why Babylon Berlin fascinates so many people is that the series does not present history as an abstract sequence of dates. This is exactly what we want to achieve at the Deutschlandmuseum as well: Our visitors can truly immerse themselves in the respective periods by experiencing their unique atmosphere with all their senses. This allows them to better understand how people lived at the time and the social forces to which they were exposed.”
Read everything about the Deutschlandmuseum in Berlin in EAP issue 6/2023, available here in the EAP eReader. ■
