In my article I try to examine the genesis of the Round Table negotiations in Poland and East Germany in 1989-1990 on the basis of the existing literature and archival sources. Despite the shared name “Round Table”, there were many significant differences concerning the genesis of the negotiations between the ruling communist parties and the opposition in the two countries. These differences can be observed on many levels, starting with the internal situation in both countries in the wake of 1989 – through their varied economic conditions, disproportionate political power of the opposition and dissident movements – up to different, though so close in time, political-historical context of both negotiations. Describing these historical asymmetries helps better understand spectacular changes of 1989 and their long lasting consequences.

A strong nostalgia for “the good old days” is a cultural phenomenon underway throughout the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The filter of nostalgia “tames” communism, though it does not negate its absurdities and inconveniences. Only in exceptional cases does nostalgia mean a genuine desire to restore the past. Nonetheless, the very fact of a swelling nostalgia for communist times is symptomatic and indicates that despite strong public support for the narratives of the transformation in the post-communist countries, there are also narratives created in a bottom-up manner and managed by small and often private museum institutions. The musealization of post-communist nostalgia is a widespread process, but it differs in the various countries of the region. This article will analyze examples of nostalgic museum exhibitions in Poland and the former East Germany. Based on the study of these cases, the author attempts to describe the importance of such exhibitions for the public.