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Collecting and telling

The Mitte Museum emerged in 2004 from the Museum Mitte, the Heimatmuseum Tiergarten and the Heimatmuseum Wedding. In 2001, Mitte, Tiergarten and Wedding were merged to form the new Mitte district. In the western part of Berlin, a decentralized self-image of the four-sector city ensured that the historical identity of the districts was also independent. A historical archive was set up in Wedding in 1952 and a museum opened in 1989. Tiergarten has had a local history association since 1962 and a local history archive since 1987. Berlin's 750th anniversary celebrations in 1987 also contributed to new forms of city historiography in East Berlin. Mitte opened a local history cabinet in the same year and a separate museum in 1992. Each of these three museums cultivated its own culture of collecting.