How Berlin's 'German-Russian' museum is navigating the war in Ukraine

Local Germany

05-05-2025

In Karlshorst, a leafy area of former East Berlin, stands the imposing building where on the night of May 8, 1945, the Nazis formally capitulated to the victorious Allies, including the Red Army.
A tank outside bears the slogan "For the Fatherland!" in Russian, a jarring reminder of Moscow's current rhetoric justifying the invasion of Ukraine, which often invokes the Soviet victory in World War II.
The director of the museum, Jörg Morré, said he is well aware of the dangers of "the instrumentalisation of history for political ends" by President Vladimir Putin's government.
He said that the display nevertheless aims to include "a Russian perspective" on history "but not from the Kremlin".
"Instead we want to hear from academics who are able to express themselves freely, which happens more and more often in exile," he added.
The Russian flag previously flew outside the museum, but that changed on February 24, 2022, when the Kremlin launched its invasion.
"In the early morning, when it became clear that Russia was attacking all of Ukraine and trying to conquer Kyiv, we decided as a team that it just wasn't right to raise the Russian flag," Morré remembers.
The Ukrainian flag now flies outside the building alone as "a symbol of solidarity".
The episode is just one example of how Morré and his team are trying to deal with the site's tumultuous past -- and present.
Previously known as the "German-Russian Museum", the site has since been renamed as the "Museum Berlin-Karlshorst".
Hopes for reconciliation
Originally built for use by Nazi Germany's army in 1938, after the war the building became the headquarters of the occupying Soviet army.
They set up a museum there in honour of the Red Army troops who captured Berlin.
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Vestiges of this can still be seen near the ceremonial hall, for example in a diorama showing heroic Soviet troops storming the Reichstag.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and its East German ally, the decision was taken to run the museum as a joint project between Russia and the newly reunified Germany.
Later, representatives from Ukraine and Belarus were also invited to take part in the running of the museum to reflect the fact that much of the fighting took place on their territory.
The building houses the impressive parquet-lined hall where the capitulation was signed as well as an extensive permanent exhibition on the war along the Eastern Front, which was updated in 2013.
Marcel Krueger, a writer who spoke to AFP during a recent visit to the museum, said that he still felt the site retained some "Soviet pomp" but that "as a German I find it very, very important that this remain here".
The exhibition recounts in unsparing detail the Nazis' crimes in occupied eastern Europe, while also referring to abuses by Soviet troops against German civilians, albeit much more briefly.
In a post-Cold War context it was hoped the museum would foster "understanding between peoples and reconciliation," said Morré.
There was long an expectation of "permanent peace," he said. "Nobody believed there would be bad times ahead."
Definitive break
Despite the heightened tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over the war in eastern Ukraine since 2014, the museum was for a while able to keep some dialogue going with all sides.
Morré said Russia's full-scale invasion represented "a definitive break".
"Since then I've had almost no contact with the Russian side," he said, adding that there has been little contact with Moscow-allied Belarus either.
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Even the reaction to the Russian tricolore being taken down was "more informal", with Russian diplomats coming to public events to make their displeasure clear to Morré.
Within Germany, Morré says that the museum's attempts to distance itself from the Russian government can lead to accusations that "we want people to forget about the consequences of the Second World War".
With no end to the war in Ukraine in sight, Morré says he and his staff will need "a lot of patience" to continue navigating the turbulent political context while continuing their mission of bringing the tragic history of the Eastern Front to life.
Museum visitor Maria became visibly emotional as she told AFP she found the exhibition "very moving and very painful".
"I ask myself: 'What lessons have been learnt from the Second World War?'"