In the new special exhibition »A nation and its heroes – 25 tales from the DDR«, the DDR Museum presents well-known and unknown personalities whose actions are part of the history of the bygone state. The free exhibition with texts in German and English can be seen in the foyer of the museum.

It presents not only the (success) stories of »people's heroes«, e.g. Olympic champion Katarina Witt or cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn, but also stories of »antiheroes« who often risked their career and freedom, such as Robert Havemann or Frieda Spitzbarth, who protested in 1964 in a letter to Walter Ulbricht against the demolition of the Leipzig University Church. A third group are the »republic's heroes«. People like the miner Adolf Hennecke, who exceeded the production standard by 387 percent in 1948, or the racing cyclist Gustav Adolf »Täve« Schur served as role models and socialist ideals for state propaganda.