Launch of the New GDR Time Travel VR Experience at TimeRide
(eap) To mark the 70th anniversary of the popular uprising in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, “East Germany”), a new virtual reality experience that takes visitors on a journey through the history of the GDR has been available at the two TimeRide locations in Berlin and Dresden since this past Saturday (June 17). Financially supported by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, “GDR Time Travel – Everyday Life and Revolt” casts a spotlight on the more than 40-year history of the GDR in virtual scenarios. The approx. 14-minute experience of the GDR history takes guests from the end of the war in 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Using VR technology, visitors are immersed in the reconstructed events and virtually become contemporary witnesses of political and social turning points in the history of the GDR. The historical events surrounding June 17, 1953 are a main focus. In 360-degree scenes, the people’s uprising and its violent suppression can be experienced directly. TimeRide visitors witness the consolidation of the SED regime that followed the protests as virtual observers of the construction of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate in August 1961. Towards the end of the time travel, guests find themselves in the celebrating crowds when the Wall fell on November 9, 1989.
Specifically, at the TimeRide location in Dresden, the new GDR Time Travel experience also introduces guests to the prestigious topic of housing construction from the perspective of a passerby on Pirnaischer Platz in the city. The virtual visit to a model apartment of the “Wohnbauserie 70” not only deepens the understanding of the formative housing architecture, but also shows a perspective of the everyday life of people in the GDR. As virtual contemporary witnesses, the guests become participants in the silent protests in front of the ruins of Dresden’s Frauenkirche.
In cooperation with the FU Berlin, the historical content of the new VR experience is also being didactically prepared for schools. Educational institutions can borrow media cases with VR glasses so that the journey back in time to the history of the GDR can be undertaken directly in their own classrooms. Teaching materials are provided for this purpose.
“With the GDR Time Travel, we want to make the multi-layered facets of life in the GDR tangible in an emotional way. The immediate immersion in short historical video sequences opens up a completely new experience of history,” explains Dresden-born Jonas Rothe, founder and managing director of TimeRide GmbH. ■
