Museum Berlin-Karlshorst

Museum Berlin-Karlshorst: Where World War II Ended

The Berlin-Karlshorst Museum stands on the historical site where the commanders-in-chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force signed the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on the night of May 8-9, 1945, in the presence of representatives from the Soviet Union, the USA, Great Britain, and France. The building was constructed in the late 1930s as an officers’ mess for Pioneer School I, and in the final days of the war, the Red Army used it as its command staff. The Surrender Hall is preserved in its original state and remains the centerpiece of the building to this day.

From 1945 to 1949, the head of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany, the supreme power in the Soviet Occupation Zone, resided here. Thus, not only did the war end at this location, but the prehistory of Germany’s division also began here. On the ground floor, a memorial room preserved in its 1967 state and the diorama „Storming the Reichstag” illustrate how differently the memory of this date evolved in East and West.

Permanent Exhibition and Outdoor Area of the Museum in Karlshorst

The permanent exhibition „Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II” is spread across the ground and upper floors and is divided into ten chapters, ranging from German-Russian relations starting in 1914 to the consequences of war and memory. It consistently tells the story of the war from both perspectives, German and Soviet, which distinguishes it from most other history museums in the city.

In the museum garden, large-format weapon and tank ensembles from the period of Soviet use are displayed, along with the open-air exhibition „The German Surrender in May 1945″. The building itself was founded by Soviet troops as a surrender museum in 1967 and re-established after their withdrawal: the sponsoring association was founded in 1994, and on May 10, 1995, the museum opened to the public. The inscription „German-Russian Museum” was removed from the building on February 24, 2022.