From the knights of the Teutonic Order, the rise of Prussia to flight and expulsion
The history department begins mystically and mysteriously with archaeological finds of the Baltic Old Prussians, followed by their submission by the knights of the Teutonic Order. The rise of Prussia from duchy to kingdom followed by the crisis of the Napoleonic period and the wars of liberation.
In the 19th century the focus was on social and technical changes. The First World War is described as the "forgotten war" in the East. During the Weimar period East Prussia was separated from the rest of the empire, which placed a heavy burden on trade and the economy and at the same time the province was discovered by tourism. During the National Socialist era, Jews, political opponents and other victim groups were deprived of their rights, persecuted and murdered by the National Socialists in East Prussia.
The Second World War ended with the downfall of East Prussia as a province in the German Reich, marked by devastating acts of violence and destruction as well as the flight and expulsion of the German population. The exhibition tells of abduction, of life in Danish internment camps and of the difficult arrival of millions of refugees in the war-torn rest of Germany. In North Germany in particular, the country, cities and societies changed as a result of the integration of many new citizens.
It is also briefly described what happened in East Prussia and the Baltic States after 1945 and how today's population deals with Germany's cultural heritage.