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Red Tourists DDR diary week 5

Union and antifa demos, Stasi and GDR nostalgia museums and a half decent bar crawl through Dresden old town

SO HERE is the fifth instalment of our DDR, and we would understand if you think we’re really milking it now. But fear not, just one more to go after this, as the sixth instalment will be our last.

This week’s we document our visit to Karl-Marx-Stadt, which really was quite impressive. We also paid a visit to Dresden where we visited another Stasi Museum and, yes you guessed it, another DDR nostalgia museum.

As always, we really appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope you’ll take the time to read our final instalment next week.

So, after a decent breakfast at our hotel to clear the haze from the night before we set off for a city that between 1953 and 1990 was known as Karl Marx Stadt, around one hour from where we were in Leipzig.

Following the reunification of Germany, a referendum was held whereby residents voted to return the City to its pre-1953 name of Chemnitz (from the Sorbian “stony [brook]”). It has been selected to be the European Capital of Culture of 2025.

It is probably worth noting here that Marx never actually visited the city, with the name being chosen in part due to its industrial history. However, there is a very concrete example of the man here.

This impressively large monument is over 13 metres tall including the base, with Marx’s head being just over seven metres. Created by the Soviet sculptor, Lev Kerbel, in Leningrad, it was then broken down into 95 pieces and transported to be reassembled in Germany.

On the building behind the monument the immortal phrase “Workers of the world, unite” is inscribed in four languages (German, English, French and Russian).

The Karl Marx monument is the main reason for Red Tourists to visit the city, though there are other interesting things to see if you fancy a walk around the area.

In fact, in a moment of pure serendipity, at the time of our visit there was a trade union rally taking place in front of the monument and words of a man who has been the inspiration of countless workers movements.

The union Ver.di (United Services Union) — the second largest trade union in Germany — was organising to fight for better pay and conditions for 330,000 workers in the municipal education and social care sectors. Since our visit to Chemnitz Ver.di have achieved a negotiated result.

After visiting the rally we went for a look around the city where we found some interesting sculptures along the same street where you will find the Marx memorial.

If you’re inclined there is a bar/cafe by the square opposite the Marx monument called Tillmans where they sell a beer named after the man himself. It was a bit early for us though so it was on to Dresden for us.

Dresden is a further hour from Chemnitz and once we had arrived and checked in at our hotel, an Ibis budget in the city centre, we went out to explore.

First on our agenda was the Dresden Stasi Museum on Bautzner Strasse, which was a few miles from where we were staying.

As in most of the cities we had visited there are electric scooters available which are really useful for getting around, though the charges do rack up.

The route took us through the city centre where, much of its historical significance remains, despite allied bombing in WWII, though parts were reconstructed post-war.

Once through the city centre and over a bridge we travelled alongside a river path adjacent to the Elbe. On a sunny day it is a great way to travel.

We arrived at the Stasi Museum — house in a former Stasi detention centre — and found the exhibition split into three sections. It is a self-guided tour and on our visit while there was a German language guided tour one was not available in English.

The first section had an exhibition where you can learn about the Stasi organisation in Dresden and its history. The next section was the detention centre which really was very interesting and you get to explore the whole area in your own time.

After having a look around the more modern detention cells constructed by the Stasi, and undertaking a small reenactment, we went and saw the underground cells which were mainly used prior to the Stasi taking control of the facility.

The third section is relatively small, being the regional office of the Stasi.

Following the Stasi Museum, we found that Dresden also has a DDR nostalgia museum and shop and so we paid a visit.

It is called Die Welt Der DDR and can be found on Antonstrasse in a shopping centre. This museum is probably slightly larger than the nostalgia museum in Leipzig and it has a lot of cool things to see.

The start of the museum focuses on the history of the Trabant, with a number of models on show as well as a number of motorbikes.

Then there is a section on the living arrangements and home life in the DDR, before moving on to areas such as healthcare, technology and even a model shop.

There is also a section where you can buy badges, books and music as well as other bits and bobs from the DDR era or DDR related. The books and music from the DDR are particularly interesting.

So after visiting Karl Marx Stadt in the morning and the Stasi and nostalgia museums in Dresden, as well as it being our last night, we felt like we had earned a beer so decided to see what Dresden had to offer.

We went to an area of Dresden you could describe as “hipstery,” which has a lot of interesting bars. As we arrived there was an antifa rally going on waiting for the result of a local government vote.

The first bar we visited was Zapfanstalt with a few interesting beers including some from China. We also got some nachos here and if you’re wondering whether you should get two portions for two people, we’d probably say one is enough.

Then we went to a place called Die Hopfenkult, there really was a great selection of beer here, though it is not a pub as such rather a beer shop with a bench outside.

Moving on again to the end of the road we went to Horst Vier Vogel Bar, where the beer was good but a relatively small selection. There was a club downstairs though.

After that we went on a bit of a wild goose chase searching for a brewery taproom that we think no longer exists, before deciding to head back to the hotel.

Before calling it though, we wanted one more and where better to end the final eve of the trip than with a Guinness in an Irish bar. When in Rome …

 

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