Ricordare la Stasi a Berlino. I memoriali come luoghi d’apprendimento

Abstract

This paper focuses on the documentation center and memorial in Normannenstrasse (Stasi-Museum) and the memorial in Hohenschönhausen, the exStasi prisons, investigating the memorials’ exhibitions and didactic displays. Those two places have a common history : they were opened in 1990 thanks to the civil movements’ active engagement. They have developed a political education program, wanting to preserve the memory of the political persecution and repression in the ex-Communist dictatorship and to reinforce the current democracy. The places have become both memorials and places for learning. The memorials, which welcome a lot of tourists, are two central places in the commemoration and representation of a crucial aspect of the GDR’s past, thanks to their exhibitions and their pedagogical vocation.