Waldsiedlung Wandlitz - A Landscape of Power

This special exhibition was on display in the BARNIM PANORAMA from 12th of May until 9th of November 2016.

The housing complex Waldsiedlung Wandlitz, located in Bernau, remains a symbol of the politics and lifestyle of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) elite, as well as a symbol of their privilege and isolation from the reality of everyday life in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

The exhibition aims to give a critical historical overview of the SED history of the housing complex used by the German Democratic Republic’s political leadership from 1958 to 1990. The facilities, the security features, and the special pension, viewed with skepticism by the citizens of the GDR, were documented with a large number of objects, photos, and documents. Visitors gain insight into the day-to-day life of the SED officials, their families, and their security staff living inside the locked-off complex. The exhibition examines the impact of the housing complex on the region and provides a geographical overview on its large walk-on-able map. It also highlights the connections between the growing media coverage of the housing complex in the last year of the German Democratic Republic and the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. The exhibition is accompanied by multiple informative installations on the grounds of the former housing complex.

This exhibition is also a window:
Information boards and maps are installed on the grounds of the Brandenburg Clinic, where the complex of the politburo once stood. This installation helps orient visitors and supply them with background information. For example, they can learn about where Erich Honeckers’, Erich Mielkes’, other officials’ houses, or the infamous “Ladenkombinat” where located. The “Ladenkombinat” was a shop where the political elite in the complex could purchase goods from the West. The information boards and maps in Wandlitz and the region also show visitors where such places like the castle Schloss Dammsmühle in Schönwalde (used by the Stasi) or the former SED spa Karl Litke in Wandlitz-Dorf and explain their history.
You can download the brochure here.

We also recommend a visit to the exhibition “The hunt and power,” which is a historical perspective of the political power plays of the most powerful GDR-politicians. It is located in the Jagdschloss Groß Schönebeck, and you can find further information here.

The exhibition is a cooperation between the municipality of Wandlitz and the Potsdam Center for Contemporary History (ZZF). The project was funded by the state of Brandenburg and the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship.

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