Deutschlandmuseum Presents “The Last Bread of the GDR”

(eap) To mark tomorrow’s German Unity Day (3 October), the Deutschlandmuseum in Berlin is presenting an unusual exhibit: what at first glance appears to be an ordinary loaf of farmhouse bread. What makes it special is that it was bought just a few days before the monetary union between East and West Germany and has remained continuously frozen ever since.

Thirty-six years after purchasing it, Michael Hagedorn (photo) has now given the loaf of bread to the Deutschlandmuseum. © Photo: Deutschlandmuseum Berlin, CC BY-ND 4.0

On Tuesday, 26 June 1990, Michael Hagedorn bought the mixed-grain loaf at a Konsum shop in Berlin-Mitte. At the time, Hagedorn was a student living in East Berlin with his wife and young daughter. Just a few days later, on 1 July 1990, the Monetary, Economic and Social Union between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR (German Democratic Republic) was due to come into effect, making the Deutsche Mark the sole legal tender.

At the time, many people were uncertain about how the reform would affect everyday life. The Hagedorn family, too, feared that food prices might rise significantly immediately after monetary union or that long queues could form outside shops. So, instead of buying just one loaf as usual that Tuesday, the Hagedorns bought a second one as a precaution and put it in their freezer.

What had initially been intended as a precautionary food purchase for the days ahead gradually slipped from memory. Through the 1990s, the turn of the millennium and well into the 2020s, the bread remained frozen. It survived house moves, saw countless other frozen products come and go and, as the Hagedorn family were (almost) always agreed over the decades, eventually became simply too old and too unusual to throw away. An everyday food item had unintentionally become a historical witness …

The exhibit, which is unique in the world, will be displayed in a frozen state. © Photo: Deutschlandmuseum Berlin, CC BY-ND 4.0

“This bread is such a fascinating museum object precisely because it was never intended to become one. It does not tell a story of high politics, but rather of a very ordinary decision made at a time of enormous uncertainty. It is exactly these kinds of everyday stories that make periods of historical upheaval immediately understandable,” explains Robert Rückel, Director of the Deutschlandmuseum.

“The Last Bread of the GDR” is on display in the “Divided Germany” period room of the museum. A dedicated freezer was specially made for the unusual exhibit, allowing the bread to remain permanently frozen while on display. In this way, it adds an object to the immersive exhibition at the Deutschlandmuseum that illustrates just how directly the major changes of 1990 affected people’s lives – extending even into their kitchens and food cupboards.

At the same time, the exhibit reflects the Deutschlandmuseum’s approach to interpretation, which presents German history in immersively designed period rooms and connects historical events with tangible experiences of everyday life. In this way, historical contexts are intended to become accessible and experiential beyond more traditional forms of museum-based knowledge transfer.

Read more about the Deutschlandmuseum and its concept in EAP 6/2023. ■