First Week at the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum: A small town museum in a big city

Hello from Berlin. I am an intern at the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum in Berlin. I will be here for six weeks and then I will be going off to another internship in Bremerhaven (but more about that later). I never imagined that I would be in a big city nor that I would be working in a museum that covers such modern material. The Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum is a small local museum that covers a lot of material of after World War II and about the immigrant communities that live here.

The first day was a bit frightening as it was the first time I went to the weekly meeting as it was the first time I used German professionally. Everyone was pretty friendly at the team meeting and very laid-back. There are not too many people who work here (perhaps a dozen or more) and everyone has their own specialty and deals with their own work at the Museum. A lot of work is done by volunteers as the Museum isn't exactly a big-budget operation unlike the larger museums in Berlin. People are dressed casually with jeans and t-shirts and the only required time anyone really has to come to is the planning meeting on Monday morning; other than that, people make their own schedules.

My direct boss, Sophie, is also an American which allows me a little bit of lee-way in constantly speaking German. I usually get to assist her in such tasks as finding equipment rental for an upcoming event as well as attending other planning meetings with her. One of the major tasks that I am working on which will be completed most likely next week is an inventory of all of the drawers in the first floor exhibit "History Being Made." It is a laborious and somewhat cryptic task as my understanding of Kreuzberg and the history of modern cities is in general very poor. Nevertheless, I help catalog the items in the museum and am making a list of suggestions and improvements for the exhibit so that it is more accessible for people who don't have guided tours. Oh, did I forget to mention I get to go on free field trips for tours. Granted, it's mostly to learn about Kreuzberg history but it is definitely a fun and rewarding experience.