Bonn's museum of contemporary history turns 25

Then Chancellor Helmut Kohl initiated the project of having a museum dedicated to Germany's postwar history in Bonn. While the Haus der Geschichte (House of History) has spaces for temporary exhibitions, the core of the museum is its permanent exhibition. Kohl is pictured above at the opening of the new institution on June 14, 1994.

The construction of the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn began in September 1989. The fact that the building was specially designed for the museum was exceptional at the time. Architects Ingebord and Hartmust Rüdiger conceived it to maximize the use of natural daylight. It is now one of the most popular museums in Germany. The permanent exhibition is visited by nearly 600,000 people every year.

To rejuvenate the permanent exhibition and make its presentation feel more vivid, as well as timely and international, it underwent months of restoration in 2017 — especially the area devoted to more recent history. "The space dedicated to the era from the 1980s to the present day was completely renewed," said the president of the Haus der Geschichte foundation, Hans Walter Hütter.

A boat used by migrants to cross the Mediterranean was recovered by Cologne Cardinal Woelki. After using it as a special altar at the Cologne Cathedral, he donated it to the Haus der Geschichte museum. The exhibit, along with many others, stands for mass migration to Europe — a major issue for the present and the future.

Germany has just celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law. Shown above is a facsimile of the original constitutional document of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949, signed by President of the Parliamentary Council Konrad Adenauer (CDU), the vice president, Adolph Schönfelder (SPD), and Hermann Schäfer (FDP).

Germany's postwar history was deeply marked by the Cold War. After GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht gave the order to close the border to the Eastern sector, the construction of the Wall began on August 13, 1961. On that Sunday morning, the East German border police tore up streets to make them impassable to most vehicles, and set up concrete blocks and barbed wire.

This exhibit evokes the East German uprising of June 17, 1953 by showing the type of tank that rolled down the streets of Berlin to suppress the protests by force. "Experience History" served for many years as the slogan of the museum, and this Russian T-34 tank is a good example of this approach. It physical presence in the museum helps visitors conceive the actual events of the time.

It would become known as the "miracle of Bern": Helmut Rahn shot the decisive goal against Hungary six minutes before the end of the game, allowing Germany to become World Champion in 1954. Nine years after the end of the Second World War, this success symbolized the beginning of the end of postwar austerity. Football would also became a highly popular sport in West Germany.

The West German VW bus became a symbol of independence. At the end of the 1960s, it offered an alternative housing option to young people who rejected their parents' values through a lifestyle inspired by music, and often drugs. The legendary T1 model shown at the exhibition was recovered from California. It embodies the fact that the hippie bus was also a "Made in Germany" export hit.

This bronze sculpture by Guido Messer pays tribute to the so-called guest workers who were recruited by the Federal Republic of Germany from the mid-1950s to support the country's economic boom. Their stay was seen as temporary, which is why their integration wasn't planned — yet many did end up staying. They and their families have since continued to shape German society.

The construction site of a nuclear reprocessing plant in the Bavarian town of Wackersdorf, which began in 1985, became famous across the country for its protests. The plans for the plant were abandoned in 1989 and illustrated the increasing impact of the anti-nuclear movement, which had formed in the West in the 1970s — and from which the increasingly popular Green party also emerged.

The exhibition also recalls Bonn's era as the capital of Germany from 1949 to 1990. Three other museums now also belong to the Haus der Geschichte Foundation: The Zeitgeschichtliche Forum in Leipzig, as well as the Tränenpalast and the Museum in the Kulturbrauerei in Berlin.