DDR-Museumswohnung WBS 70

Stepping back in time, we find ourselves at the DDR-Museumswohnung WBS 70. This isn’t just an apartment. It’s a portal to the everyday life of East Germans in the 1980s. The DDR-Museumswohnung WBS 70, located at Hellersdorfer Straße 179, offers a glimpse into a bygone era. It showcases the reality of living in a prefabricated apartment during the German Democratic Republic. The apartment, part of a housing estate built in 1986, is meticulously furnished with authentic items. From the Rafena television to the green upholstered couch in the living room, everything whispers stories of the past. Even the kitchen holds original GDR cookware and food items. Details like the wallpaper, flooring, décor, books, and records further enhance the immersive experience. The DDR-Museumswohnung WBS 70 even features a print of Walter Womacka’s “Am Strand,” the most reproduced artwork in the GDR. These apartments, known as WBS 70 (Wohnungsbauserie 70), were a response to the housing shortage in the early 1970s. The GDR government aimed to provide every citizen with an apartment by 1990 through a massive construction project using prefabricated concrete elements. These Plattenbau buildings were a cheaper and faster alternative to traditional construction methods. The WBS 70 design, developed by architects Wilfried Stallknecht and Achim Felz, used standardized 6-meter prefabricated parts. The design allowed for varied floor plans and facades. The construction was so efficient that an apartment like this one could be built in about 18 hours. A 3-room apartment cost around 109 Marks per month, roughly ten percent of a worker’s average income, thanks to state subsidies. These modern apartments, equipped with bathrooms, hot water, and district heating, were highly sought after. The DDR-Museumswohnung WBS 70 stands as a testament to this era. In 2004, during renovations, the housing company Stadt und Land decided to preserve this piece of history. Now, guided tours led by Wolfgang Sawatzki offer personal anecdotes and insights into life in a WBS 70 apartment. The DDR-Museumswohnung WBS 70 is a poignant reminder of a vanished world. It provides a tangible connection to the past. It allows us to understand the everyday realities of life in the GDR.