Friday, May 22, 2015

Museum Karlshorst



During our visit to Museum Karlshorst we had the opportunity to see many exhibits displaying history during World War II which was a great experience in itself, but there is some history surrounding the Museum Karlshorst that we could not see. The building that houses the exhibits has a history of its own. The museum is the location of the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces on May 8, 1945, and with this World War II came to an end in Europe. The building also served as a mess hall for military engineers in training at Wehrmacht Pioneer School, and the headquarters of Soviet Military Administration.  In 1949 Soviets renounced administrative authority to the first government of the German Democratic Republic. The structure then severed as the Central Museum of Armed Forces Moscow from 1967 to 1994, and was opened as a permanent museum in May of 1995 and  After the withdrawal of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1990, Germany and The Soviets decided to call to mind the history of the German- Soviet War and the fall of the Nazi rule, and resurrected the structure as the Karlshorst Museum. The museum was open to the public in May of 1995 and has remained so for 10 years.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Was I the only one who was surprised that this museum is run jointly between two very different governments? I think that that is a feat in itself since we all know how difficult discussions between the western and eastern governments go down. ANy thoughts?

Amanda.Filipchuk said...

I also found interesting to find out that the museum is jointly run by the Russian and German government. I do not think this is a bad thing though. The collaboration between the two governments in running this museum puts a different perspective to the events that took place. Having a display that shows the Second World War from the perspective of the allies and the axis in one building enlightened me on how the events played out. It is a reminder that there is more than one side to every story.

Unknown said...

I noticed a certain bias on their part, particularly when they talked about the German who committed suicide before the Russian invasion, when they did not mention Soviet brutality that was quite real.
Besides that though, a different perspective can be helpful though even if it isn't the best angle.
You can't see the whole statue if you don't look from all the angles.