“Tränenpalast” – Site of German Division

“Tränenpalast” – Site of German Division

Permanent exhibition

Tears of good bye, longing, rage and desperation – only a few places in Germany concentrated the emotions of the German separation like the “Tränenpalast” – “palace of tears”, the famous checkpoint and border control for the departure from the East into the West at Berlin’s Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. Here the people directly felt the strong impact of the German separation on their personal lives. The “Tränenpalast” only lost its function as a checkpoint after the fall of the Wall in 1989.

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Within the historic listed building of the ‘Tränenpalast’ the State of Germany initiated the permanent exhibition “Tränenpalast – site of German Division”. Showing many biographical examples, 570 artefacts and 30 media installations the exhibition portrays German every day life in the context of borders and separation.

COORDINATION translated the historical content and narrative of the exhibition into a spatial design and was responsible for the implementation and realisation of the permanent exhibition. Prof. Dr. Hans Walter Hütter, president of Stiftung Haus der Ges-chichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, was especially moved by the visitors’ personal reactions. “The exhibition in the ‘Tränenpalast’ particularly appeals to the visitors on an emotional level. In this authentic and historic space we found ways to hit the right nerve with our vivid, biographically orientated exhibition concept.”

Facts
Client Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn
Assignment Design, Planning and Execution of the Exhibition
Design Jochen Gringmuth
Project Management Christian Skeide
Team Sabine Melis, Theresa Arns, Jan Stauf, Patricia Haas
Graphic Design Danielle Gringmuth
Photos diephotodesigner.de