Lounge
Our modern Lounge invites you to try it out by exploring and browsing in it. Seated on a comfortable sofa with a view of the former Government Quarter, you can read magazines, newspapers and books on contemporary German history.
In our Sonic Chairs, you can sit in on interviews with contemporary witnesses as if you were talking to them yourself. On tablets, we offer history enthusiasts exciting websites, apps and historical film material.
The new Lounge is also a meeting place. On the architecturally integrated stage, contemporary witnesses are interviewed, authors present their books. You have access via tablets to the whole range of our library resources and to our databanks. Notebooks are available, as well as free Wi-Fi and sufficient electrical outlets for your own equipment.
The Lounge design was developed by the Dutch library designer Aat Vos together with staff members of our Foundation.
Opening hours
Mo-Fr: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sa, Su & Holidays: closed
Contact
Phone: +49 228 91 65-236
E-Mail: iz(at)hdg.de
Library catalogue
An online catalogue is available for your research, which includes various data pools. There you will find all of the Lounge’s contemporary history resources as well as those of GDR History.
To our library catalogue (German)
You can search a total of 260,000 volumes. Besides 10,000 books, videos and audio documents on contemporary German history, a selection of daily and weekly newspapers is available in the Lounge. Titles from the stacks can be ordered on site or by telephone or e-mail. Restricted use applies to some books and periodicals that are displayable as objects.
You can use the library resources on site free of charge. In the Lounge you have free Wi-Fi access. A coin-operated photocopier is also available.
Fees for processing research inquiries vary in accordance with the amount of work involved. For groups, we offer free introductory surveys of the Lounge. If you are interested, please register with the Visitor Services: 0228 91 65-400.
Special features
Experience history in the Lounge: Photo books, cartoon books, exhibition catalogues, illustrated collections, print media, videos and audio documents exhibit our history from various perspectives. Besides our exhibition and collection topics, an additional focal point is the collaboration with contemporary witnesses. The video platform www.zeitzeugen-portal.de offers interviews with persons from the political, economic and social sectors. By means of our Sonic Chairs, they and their memories make the past come alive.
Our resources include scientific and scholarly literature, books and audiovisual media suitable for display as objects, books containing dedications, and first editions of interest to bibliophiles.
Films and audio documents
Some 6,000 film and sound documents present contemporary history as an audiovisual narrative. You can use them in the Lounge. Contemporary witnesses tell their story; music and films reflect the feel for life and the Zeitgeist of bygone times. In addition, our media resources include some 62,000 films and audio documents subject to restricted use.
Digital media
All online projects of our Foundation are available on tablets or laptops. The contemporary witnesses portal (Zeitzeugenportal) can be conveniently used in our Sonic Chairs. In the info portal history enthusiasts will find, specially assembled in theme clusters, the Foundation’s online projetcs, selected links on contemporary history, and various databanks, for example you can “Search the Collections” in our object database.
Library of GDR History
The former library of the All-German Institute has belonged since 1 January 1994 to the Haus der Geschichte and is integrated into the Lounge. Continuously growing for 50 years and currently comprising over 180,000 volumes, it is one of the leading collections of the history of the GDR and East-West German relations. Besides political history, focal points include art in the GDR, biographies, and everyday cultural life in the GDR. Especially noteworthy are the library’s 2,000 magazine titles and 380 newspaper titles, including 242 GDR newspapers with local and district pages of the regional newspapers available on microfilm. The press cuttings archive, covering the period from 1953 to 1977, contains 3.5 million articles on major topics appearing in newspapers and other periodicals from both German states.
In our library catalogue you will find German and international magazines and journals. The library also offers an extensive collection of periodicals from the former GDR.
Our collection of GDR newspapers includes regional newspapers as well as their local and district pages, district newspapers and a certain number of specialist periodicals. By giving advance notice you can browse among over 380 titles available on microfilm.
Object Database
Research museum objects online
Our “Search the Collections” object database enables you to research items in the collections at the four Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Foundation sites. Currently you can explore around 66,000 objects and audio-visual media.
To our object database (German)