Since November 2013, the Foundation House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany has been showing the permanent exhibition "Everyday Life in the GDR" in the Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg. Documents, film and sound recordings, slogans and around 800 original objects can be seen on 600 square meters, including a complete newspaper kiosk, a workbench, a dacha and a Trabant with a roof tent.

After an introduction to how the SED dictatorship saw itself and how it functioned, three chapters - Working World, Supply and Leisure - contrast the claims and propaganda of the political leadership with the reality of people's lives in the GDR. The ambivalent role of the mass organizations and the work collective, which on the one hand created a sense of community, but at the same time also served as a means of social control, becomes clear.

Letters, interviews, school essays and Stasi protocols show how differently people dealt with the political guidelines and constraints, how they evaded them and how they were threatened if they resisted the prescribed model of life. This is complemented by special exhibitions on contemporary German history.