Bonn’s Haus der Geschichte (House of History) museum has opened its new permanent exhibition, “You are part of history.”
The latest addition to the chronologically structured exhibition can be found — logically enough — at the very end. It’s a red protest sign against the new military conscription law, with the slogan “Wages up, armaments down.” A museum employee carried it back to the museum from the demonstration that took place at Bonn’s Hofgartenwiese on December 5. Less than a week later, it is already exhibited as a historical document in the section “Today,” the last of five time periods covered in the interactive exhibition.
The show’s approximately 3,800 exhibits transport visitors back in time through the past eight decades of German history — from the end of World War II in 1945 to the present day. Almost everything that was and is important in German history — both West and East— is on display. Bringing contemporary history to life is the goal of the new permanent exhibition, which was financed with €25 million ($29 million).
It took six years to plan and design and, after a 14-month closure, the permanent exhibition is now reopening.
Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Wolfram Weimer, who stood in for Chancellor Friedrich Merz at short notice at the ceremony in Bonn, was impressed by the result: “The new permanent exhibition is a wonderful reflection of our modern history.”
The Haus der Geschichte in Bonn opened in 1994Image: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance
A new focus on German reunification
Even before the renovation, the Haus der Geschichte, which opened in 1994, was one of the most visited museums in Germany.
However, according to museum officials, a certain imbalance between the different historical sections had become apparent by 2024. For example, the same amount of space was devoted to the 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall as to the first four years after the end of World War II.
That has now changed: Reunification takes center stage, and the 45 years before it receive just as much space as the 35 years after it ended.
Current topics of debate in Germany such as immigration and integration, racism, LGBTQ+ life, climate policy and the media are now given significantly more space.
Personal stories and striking objects — such as a mud-covered doll from the 2021 floods in Ahr Valley — are used to depict recent events, helping young people in particular answer the important question, “Why should I care?”
Representation of a natural disaster: Mud-covered doll from the Ahr ValleyImage: Axel Thünker/Stiftung Haus der Geschichte
Numerous interactive elements also help, such as a station where you can place your own silhouette on images of historical events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall or Germany’s victory in the 1954 football World Cup.
Another display allows visitors to vote on the policies they would finance. While sitting on authentic Bundestag seats, they can choose between “Strengthen the military,” “Protect wildlife” or they can divide the money equally. The results can be seen immediately. Democracy can be that simple.
“We want to show how history is made — and how each and every one of us can shape it through our own actions as citizens of a democratic constitutional state,” explains Harald Biermann, president of the Haus der Geschichte foundation.
Weimer: The Haus der Geschichte is ‘a key part in how we see ourselves’
The Haus der Geschichte (with branches in Berlin and Leipzig) is also an important national archive. More than a million objects are stored in its collection.
Commissioner for Culture Wolfram Weimer (right) and Harald Biermann, president of the Foundation Haus der Geschichte, at the opening ceremony in BonnImage: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance
Commissioner for Culture Wolfram Weimer emphasized the museum’s importance as “a key part in how we see and think about ourselves.”
The new permanent exhibition asks: “What kind of democracy do we have, what kind of republic is this?” said Weimer.
“Germany has often been described as a democracy on probation,” he said. “And here you learn that after 80 years, we are already a proven democracy, with all its disputes and conflicts. Presenting this image is a great achievement of this exhibition.”
This article was originally written in German.
