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Berlin-Karlshorst
Address:
Zwieseler St., 4
On May 8, 1945, World War II was
brought to an end with the surrender of the German Wehrmacht
at Berlin-Karlshorst. The bloodiest conflict of modern history
to date claimed a death toll of at least 50 million people.
The attempt for world domination by the German National Socialists
under the leadership of Adolf Hitler ended with vast destructions
in Germany and abroad. Particularly brutal battles were fought
between the German and Soviet troops as a result of the National
Socialist ideology, aiming at the enslavement and eventual extinction
of the Slavic people.
In 1967, the Soviet troops stationed in the GDR founded Das
Museum der bedingungslosen Kapitulation des faschistischen Deutschland
im Gro?en Vaterl?ndischen Krieg 1941 - 1945 ("Museum of
the Unconditional Surrender of Fascist Germany in the 'Great
Patriotic War' of 1941 - 1945"). The museum was located
in the same building where the signing of the capitulation took
place in 1945. Initially, the museum was open only to members
of the Soviet Army; however, soon afterwards, it opened to the
general public.
The German unification on October 3, 1990, and the withdrawal
of the Soviet troops raised new questions as to the future of
the museum as well as the artifacts it contained. The Soviets
offered to maintain the collection at Karlshorst and to allow
for the continuation of the museum.
On behalf of the Federal Government of Germany and the "Senate"
of Berlin, the German Historical Museum, in conjunction with
their Soviet partners, was given the task of drawing up a new
concept for the continuation of the museum. A committee of German
and Soviet (now Russian) experts, consisting of political and
military historians, archivists, and museum experts was appointed
for this purpose. The committee began drawing up plans on April
14, 1991, and by October 1992 they created a broad concept of
the continuation and re-evaluation of the museum Berlin-Karlshorst.
The museum opened its doors to the public on May 10, 1995.
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