VILLA SCHÖNINGEN / A COLD WAR MUSEUM

A private museum has been installed in Villa Schöningen, which was built from 1843-45 by Ludwig Persius, architect to the King of Prussia. Located adjacent to the Glienicke Bridge, hence the former boundary between the American and the Soviet sector, it was through the exchange of spies, followed with worldwide interest, that the bridge became an internationally famous symbol of German division and the Cold War.

The Villa itself has had a chequered career. Built on the aesthetic whim of King Frederick William IV, it was owned by the family of Hermann Wallich, cofounder of the Deutsche Bank, a home to art and Jewish intelligentsia, later occupied first by the Nazis, then the Soviets and finally turned into a GDR children's home. After German reunification the villa just escaped being sacrificed by a housing development plan. In 2007, the dilapidated house was purchased by Dr. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer AG, and Leonhard Fischer, CEO of RHJI, to save it from demolition and, after careful restoration appropriate to a listed building, to create a public place of history, art and freedom.

SPIES. WALL. CHILDREN'S HOME / AT THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE WORLDS

The permanent display galleries house a historical exhibition on the story of the Glienicke Bridge during the Cold War. In the exhibition the horror of totalitarian regimes is made perceptible.
In her inaugural speech at the opening of the museum Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel summed it up poignantly: »the emotional roller-coaster of German history – full of pain and suffering, full of joy and happiness – expects the visitors to the Villa Schöningen; because the history of this house, adjacent to the Glienicke Bridge, reflects in a very special way dream and trauma of our once divided and now reunified nation. The title of the exhibition »Spies. Wall. Children's home - at the bridge between the worlds« expresses this in a wonderful way. «

NEW MEDIA

Besides a range of objects and documents, computer screens serve as the principal medium to communicate texts, photos and videos.

ORAL HISTORY

In Villa Schöningen history is told through stories. Most important are the contributions from contemporary witnesses who experienced events in this place, symbolic for German division. History is being presented not in a moralising tone, but as a living mosaic of various perceptions. The oral history project is still ongoing. If you are interested in contributing your experiences of the Glienicke Bridge or Villa Schöningen during the time of German division, please contact Johanna Clary:
T +49 (0) 331 200 17 41
Zeitzeugen@villa-schoeningen.de

CONTEMPORARY ART

In addition to the permanent exhibition on German history in the Cold War, Villa Schöningen will host temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. The idea is to show art, which deals with issues related to the place, such as the Cold War, German division and reunification, 1989, totalitarianism, democracy and freedom.

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