Berlin, 18 September 2015
The Spy Museum Berlin will open its doors on September 19 right in the heart of Berlin. Thereby, the “Capital of Spies” finally gets its long overdue exhibition about the shadow world of espionage – 25 years after the end of the cold war.
„The cold war era has established the international reputation of Berlin as the capital of spies. And exactly here, in the heart of this city, the once hottest cold war seam, we now open the Spy Museum Berlin. What location could be more authentic to make the history of espionage come alive?“, says Joachim E. Thomas, Director of the new Spy Museum Berlin.
Spectacular secret operations, mysterious espionage cases and spies surrounded by legend will be brought to light in the permanent exhibition which can be experienced with all senses. More than 300 rare exhibits from the inventory of a long-term formed collection will be displayed by the museum on over 3.000 sq m, including elaborately produced replicas which will be futuristically presented with innovative museum technology and multimedia.
„We managed to realise an ultra-modern and interactive museum that makes the exciting story of espionage contemporarily accessible. Without the utilisation of public funds, a “Museum 3.0” that defines the museum as a place of entertainment along with its scientific objectivity“, says Carsten Kollmeier, co-initiator and chief adviser who had already brought the Dalí-Museum into existence six years ago – the first private art museum in Germany.
The Spy Museum Berlin takes visitors on a journey through time that begins with the first ancient world testimonials of secret intelligence gathering, thematises the development of methods for military intelligence during the World Wars as well as the founding and operation of organised Intelligence Services. From there, a bridge is forged into the dark world of secret operations of the hostile cold war factions. As an important European hub of global political events, Berlin forms the thematic focus of the museum. A seperate subject area is dedicated to the current tasks of Secret and Intelligence Services as well as the future handling with information as merchandise.
„Following almost ten years of research and scientific reprocessing with a curatorial team I finally see my idea realised. In the Spy Museum Berlin we tell the story of espionage from the ancient world until the present“, says Franz-Michael Günther, curator and co-initiator.
The museum shall be understood as a place of lively transfer of knowledge, furthermore as an experimental, playful laboratory: Discovery, experience, trying out and research playfully interlock. Beside a variety of objects, documents, pictures and film testimonies originating from private collections and public archives, statements and confessions of contemporary witnesses, top agents and experts come alive in the exhibition through specially produced documentary film interviews. Via touch panel, the interactive „Spy Map“ offers visitors a visual placing of the historical espionage hotspots in the capital of spies on a 14 sq m laser projection surface.
The internationally acclaimed team of Ars Electronica Solutions based in Linz was engaged for the challenging transfer of historically controversial content into multimedia and interactive contexts.
Espionage is also the story of the protagonists destiny. The world famous stories of John le Carré or Ian Fleming are thrilling fiction, but differ considerably from the real life of secret agents and their different motivations. The exhibition tells both the stories of real espionage protagonists, secret agents and whistleblowers and those of legendary spies from literature and film, like James Bond.
The Spy Museum Berlin thrives from the varied history and the highly controversial present day espionage with all its facettes. A world of knowledge and experience that, through its complexity and range, has plenty of practical value, thrill, mystery and surprise in store for visitors from all over the world.
[box type=”shadow” align=”alignright” class=”” width=””]The public opening will be held tomorrow on September 19th starting at 10am. For more information, please visit the official website @ www.deutsches-spionagemuseum.de/en[/box]
ADMISSIONS |
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| GENERAL ADMISSION (children free until age 6) |
18,00 EURO | |
| DISCOUNT (Pupils, students, trainees) |
14,00 EURO | |
| VIP-TICKET (priviledged admission without queuing) |
27,00 EURO | |
| GROUPS (from 10 participants) |
16,00 EURO | |
| FAMILY TICKET (2 adults and up to 3 children under 16) |
49,00 EURO | |
| SCHOOL CLASSES (from 10 participants as a class) |
9,00 EURO | |
TOURS |
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| PUBLIC TOUR (subject to availability, usually hourly) |
8,00 EURO | |
| PUBLIC TOUR DISCOUNT (subject to availability, usually hourly) |
6,00 EURO | |
| TOUR (plus admission, max. 25 participants, only with prior registration) |
78,00 EURO | |
| SCHOOL TOURS (plus admission, max. 25 participants, only with prior registration) |
55,00 EURO | |
OPENING HOURS |
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| MONDAY – SUNDAY 10am – 08pm (closed on December 24th) |