Berlin, and Leipzig museam advice.

Berlin will be expensive first week of September (IFA fair and a music festival).

In Berlin Stasi Museum (ex Stasi HQ) and Hohenschönhausen (ex Stasi prison) have different focuses. Cannot say very much about the Leipzig one.

Normally Berlin needs 4-5 nights to explore it a little bit deeper.

I was in Berlin for five days in April. I also visited Leipzig as a day trip from Dresden. I didn't make it to any of the museums you mention.

There are so many museums and other sites in Berlin, and much of it is spread out all around the city. I wish I could have made it to every site and every museum on my wish list.

Make a list of the things you are most eager to see. Then look at a map to see how easily you can get from one to the other, and plan your days accordingly.

If those particular museums are at the top of your list, you'll get to them. Sorry I can't say if they are worth visiting compared with other museums. It's really a personal choice based on your interests.

Hi,

To answer your questions, not my area in history when I am in Berlin and Leipzig. If you're interested in the history, several museums focus on that in Potsdam, Berlin, and Leipzig.

Which other history museums are you planning to go to in the greater Berlin area and Leipzig? Several other recommendations as they pertain to history museums.

I haven't been to either Stasi museums, but I have been to both DDR museums. They're very different. The Berlin one is fun, a little nostalgic, and very crowded. The Leipzig one has some of the interesting stuff like the Berlin one, like replicas of a typical living room, but covers the historical context and the downsides of the DDR in FAR more detail and complexity. If I could choose one, I'd do the Leipzig one if you really want a good overview of the DDR and this period in time. Plus I think it's free?

My recommendation would be to talk to people who have been to both the Stasi museums and then chose just one. It's easy to get overloaded on the dark stuff.

I've visited the Leipzig museum and found it very interesting. Make sure you get the English-language guide leaflet at the reception desk, all the labelling is in German only (and at times in quite tough legal/political German). The history of how the museum came to be is an interesting part of it as well.

Just want to add the recommendation that at Berlin's Ostel you can sleep in a real GDR environment. At restaurant Volkskammer the old GDR dishes are served for a real socialistic meal.

Close to where I live and also close to the film set places of "The Lives of Others".

Thanks for the tip on "Restaurant Volkskammer," looks very "empfehlenswert." and blows the myth that one cannot get good German and Berlin cuisine in Berlin.

There used to be a restaurant ca 10 years ago (Meier's?) serving traditional German cuisine "Bei der Jannowitzbrücke" ie, ca 2-3 blocks down from the station.

I saw in East Berlin in 1980s, ie '84, (on a guided bus tour from Ku'damm), '87, (solo) and solo again in August '89, my last time on DDR soil.

I went to Hohenschoenhausen and found it very interesting 6stinv. I haven't been to Leipzig. One thing about Hohenschoenhausen is that it's a bit time-consuming to reach. There's a tram ride of fair length and then a healthy walk. I advise having an electronic map so you know where to get off the tram and can get yourself oriented to begin walking in the right direction. There's nothing complicated about it if you start off right. It's been 4 years, but I think the walk took me at least 15 minutes.

At the time of my visit, there was a film shown before the English-language tour, and both were very good. However, if you spend time in the museum area, you will he exposed to some of the same information covered by the tour, so it would be possible to get a lot out of the visit even if the timing of the English tour didn't suit you.

I visited the Stasi Headquarters in Leipzig and was blown away by how everything was kept the same and all that they had inside.

I have been to the Leipzig Stasi Museum (Museum in der Runden Ecke) and the Berlin Stasi Museum, as well as the Hohenschönhausen Memorial in Berlin.

Between the two Stasi Museums, I liked the Leipzig museum better because it seemed to have more actual Stasi relics than the Berlin museum. The audio guide was very good (though you have to leave a passport/id to take it). The Berlin museum is set in the old Stasi headquarters and allows you to see Erich Mielke's office as it existed during DDR times, but the museum has a lot of reading. I did the 1-hour English tour. It was just okay. I found the Hohenschönhausen Memorial (former Stasi remand prison) a lot more interesting than the Stasi Museum in Berlin.

Definitely do not do both Stasi museums -- I would suggest the one in Leipzig. If your need a little more Stasi/DDR dreariness in your life after that, go to the Hohenschönhausen Memorial in Berlin (though with only a week for Berlin/Leipzig, I would probably find something else to do in Berlin).

Oh yeah... I went to Volkskammer according to MarkK's recommendation about 2 weeks ago and found it really enjoyable. I went one night without a reservation; they had no table for me. So, I made a reservation a few nights later to eat there. Nice (?) DDR decor. DDR music playing overhead (and the lady at the table beside mine sang along with every tune!). Decent food. Staff was very patient with my bad German.