Topography of Terror

From 1933 to 1945, the headquarters of the Gestapo, the Gestapo “house prison,” and, after 1939, the Reich Security Main Office, as well as the SS High Command and the Security Service of the SS High Command, were located on the grounds of what is now the Topography of Terror documentation center. An open-air exhibition documents the history of this site as the control center of the National Socialist program of persecution and annihilation.

Gestapo, SS, and Reich Security Main Office on the grounds of the former Prince Albrecht ensemble: a documentation

Open-air exhibition
Niederkirchnerstrasse 8
10963 Berlin

October – April: daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (or until nightfall)
May – September: daily 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Admission free

U6, Kochstrasse, or U2, Potsdamer Platz
S1, S2, S25 Anhalter Bahnhof or Potsdamer Platz

Guided tours by arrangement
Tel. +49 (0)30 25486703
Fax +49 (0)30 2627156
ausstellung@topographie.de

Staff members of the Topography of Terror documentation center managed to preserve a section of the Berlin Wall at a time when the Wall was scheduled to be removed from the city center entirely. This section of the Wall has been classified as a historical monument since 1990.

With regard to the construction planned for the area, the Topography of Terror Foundation has said, “In 1992 the Topography of Terror Foundation was founded and the decision was made to build a documentation and visitors’ center. The winning entry in the 1993 competition to design the center came from the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. However, by July 1999 only the foundation and three stairwell towers had been built, since financial and engineering problems led to repeated delays and finally to a suspension of work on the building.

In March 2004, the long-standing head of Topography of Terror and professor of history Dr. Reinhard Rürup resigned from his position as the foundation’s academic director in protest over the continuing building crisis. In May 2004 the federal and state governments agreed to end the Zumthor project and issue another call for bids. After the construction previously put up had been removed, the federal government opened a new architectural competition on 11 April 2005.”

Source: www.topographie.de