“DomAquarée” building
Closure for weeks, damaged exhibits: East German museum affected by aquarium accident
The DDR Museum in Berlin shows, among other things, exhibits from everyday life in the defunct state – after the aquarium accident it has to close for the time being (archive photo)
© Maja Hitij / Getty Images
The DDR Museum in Berlin’s “DomAquarée” building complex is struggling with XXL water damage after the aquarium accident and has to close for the time being.
The GDR Museum, housed in the same building complex, was also badly affected by the bursting of the XXL column aquarium in Berlin. “A million liters of salt water have made their way, also to us in the exhibition,” said museum director Gordon Freiherr von Godin of the DPA news agency.
DDR Museum in Berlin damaged by aquarium accident
About a third of the 1200 square meter exhibition area is affected. Von Godin expects the clean-up work to take several weeks. He could not say anything about the specific damage. According to the “Berliner Kurier”, among other things, an originally furnished apartment from the GDR era was damaged. Parts of the ceiling also collapsed, reports the “Berliner Morgenpost”. According to the information, no one was injured in the museum, it was still closed at the time of the accident.
Two injured
Huge column aquarium burst in Berlin – impressions of the rubble field on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße
The DDR Museum was opened in 2006 in the “DomAquarée” building ensemble on the Spree. Among other things, there are insights into the everyday culture of the socialist state and the arbitrary rule of the SED. The makers describe it as “one of the most interactive museums in the world”. It has more than 270,000 exhibits in the exhibitions and depot. Before the coronavirus pandemic, around 500,000 people visited the privately funded and operated museum every year.
Watch the video: an eyewitness reports that the large aquarium in Berlin burst.
On Friday morning, the 16-meter-high “Aquadom” column aquarium in the foyer of a hotel burst for reasons that are still unclear. Two people were injured in the accident, around a million liters of salt water flowed onto the street and the lower floors of the badly damaged building, and 1,500 exotic fish died.
Sources: DDR Museum, “Berlin Courier”, “Berlin Morning Post”(paid content)DPA news agency