Allied Museum facts for kids
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). The Allied Museum (German: AlliiertenMuseum) is a special museum in Berlin, Germany. It tells the story of the US, France, and Britain (known as the Western Allies) and their important roles in Germany, especially Berlin, from 1945 to 1994. The museum shows how they helped keep Berlin free during the Cold War.
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Where is the Museum?
The museum is located on Clayallee, a street named after General Lucius D. Clay. It's in the Dahlem area of southwestern Berlin. Before Germany became one country again in 1990, this area was part of the American sector of West Berlin. The buildings where the museum is now used to be an American movie theater called Outpost and the Nicholson Memorial Library.
The Allied Museum opened in 1998. This was 50 years after the famous Berlin Airlift. The German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, was there for the opening. It's free to visit! Since Berlin Tempelhof Airport closed in 2008, the museum has thought about moving to the old airport someday.
The Allies and the Cold War
The museum shows a big part of the Cold War in Berlin. This was a time of tension between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. It covers the period right after World War II until the Allied forces left in the 1990s.
After World War II ended in 1945, the US, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into different areas, called occupation zones. France also got a zone. The German capital, Berlin, was also split into four parts. In April 1945, Soviet troops fought their way into Berlin. They made the German army surrender. Later, the Soviet troops moved out of the Western parts of the city as planned.
The Cold War began when the Soviet Union started to disagree with the Western Allies. This led to the Berlin Blockade in 1948–49. During this time, the US, Britain, and France became the Western Allies and were against the Soviet forces. Tensions grew, leading to the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the building of the Berlin Wall. Things got better with the 1971 Four Power Agreement on Berlin. The "Berlin question" was finally solved after the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989.
What You Can See at the Museum
The Outpost Theater: From War to Airlift
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The museum's main building used to be the Outpost movie theater. It was built in 1953. Inside, you can see old maps of Berlin showing how it was divided. There are also pictures of Soviet troops entering Berlin, military uniforms, and the first newspapers printed after the war. You can also see CARE packages, which were boxes of food and supplies sent to help people. The museum also highlights how the British and American forces worked hard and made sacrifices during the Berlin Airlift to bring supplies to West Berlin. They often have talks and show films here.
Open-Air Exhibition: Planes and Watchtowers
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Outside the museum, you can see some very large objects. These include a Handley Page Hastings transport plane. The Royal Air Force used this plane during the Berlin Airlift. There's also a railway car from a French military train. You can see the last guard house from the famous Berlin border crossing, Checkpoint Charlie. There's even a rebuilt East German watchtower.
Nicholson Memorial Library: Berlin's Special Role
This part of the museum used to be a library. Here, you can find documents about the daily lives of the Allied soldiers stationed in Berlin. It also explains the political situation during the Cold War until the Berlin Wall fell. You can learn about how the US, Great Britain, and France worked to keep control in West Berlin. One interesting exhibit is a rebuilt spy tunnel. This tunnel was used by American and British spies in 1955 for a secret mission called Operation Gold. This hall also hosts special temporary exhibitions on current topics.
How the Museum is Run
The Allied Museum is a non-profit group. Its members include the country of Germany, the city of Berlin, France, the UK, and the US. Other members are the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Institut für Zeitgeschichte in Munich.
The Day the Wall Came Down Sculpture
Near the Allied Museum on Clayallee, there is a sculpture called The Day the Wall Came Down. It was made in 1998 by Veryl Goodnight. This artwork celebrates the happy day of November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall lost its power. The sculpture shows five wild horses jumping over actual pieces of the Berlin Wall. A statue of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben is also nearby.
See Also
- German-Russian Museum
- List of museums and galleries in Berlin
