Overview
- Forsa surveyed 1,643 Berliners and found 48% have engaged intensively with DDR history, while 11% say they have never dealt with it.
- Around eight in ten say keeping memory of political persecution is important, 84% want memorial visits anchored in school curricula, and most visitors report being emotionally moved and learning new facts.
- SED-commissioner Frank Ebert backs mandatory school visits, calls for expanded digital outreach to reach youth, and says preparations for a Humboldt Forum exhibition will start in January.
- Engagement is weaker among younger residents and those with a migration background, and interest is more often sparked by family conversations than by schools.
- Recognition skews toward tourist sites such as Checkpoint Charlie (88%), the Eastside Gallery (78%), and Bernauer Straße (74%), while specialized places like the Campus für Demokratie (22%) and Lernort Keibelstraße (6%) are little known, and Hohenschönhausen reports 400,000 visitors a year and turns away some school classes due to limited capacity.