The museum exhibitions are situated in a complex of buildings at a former border crossing point near Göttingen and Kassel in the Eichsfeld region.
The Eichsfeld region and many families who lived here were separated by the British and the Soviet zone, and from 1949 onwards by the two German states.
As early as the 1950s and '60s, the Eichsfeld region was the site of mass expulsions from the border area and dramatic escape attempts from East to West Germany.
What started as a demarcation line turned into a heavily guarded border with barbed wire fences, minefields and observation towers.
Further topics include the organization of state and society in communist East Germany and the role of the Stasi as well as the Peaceful Revolution and the border opening in 1989.