From BZ/dpa
Everything has gone under the hammer: the DDR Museum in Döberitz is history. At an auction by the Berlin auction house Historia, vehicles, toys and everyday objects were sold in Berlin and online on Saturday.
The best bid brought a Barkas ambulance for 18,000 euros, said art historian Christina Schulze from the auction house. A rare forest Trabant went for 7,000 euros – the starting price was 100 euros both times. The interest was great: “It’s all sold,” said the art historian. “The live bidders have rolled over.” Many bidders were from East Germany.
Barkas and Trabants – visitors go through the vehicle exhibition of the DDR Museum Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa
The GDR Museum in Döberitz, a district of Premnitz in Havelland, contained special treasures from the history of the GDR. Manfred Hüsges, who came from Mönchengladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, collected 40,000 objects, vehicles, toys and everyday items and exhibited them in a 400 square meter space in a former dance hall.
At the auction, collectors were able to bid for entire showcases, shelves, vehicles, but also a model railway, dolls, lamps and radios. The “Pebeland” shows a city with NVA barracks, consumer goods and town hall made of Pebe plastic blocks, the East German equivalent of Lego. The museum house was also offered on behalf of the heirs. It went for 50,000 euros, the starting price was 30,000 euros.
Hüsges converted the former restaurant and opened it as a GDR museum in 2014. He died a few years ago. According to the auction house, several attempts were then made to preserve the museum with the help of the municipality – without success.