Orte der Erinnerung 1933 - 1945

Brandenburg Documentation Centre

The construction of the Brandenburg-Görden prison was begun by the Prussian government in 1927 and then completed by the National Socialist government in 1935. It was initially conceived of as being a model for a humane correctional facility. However, it ended up being the largest and most “modern” prison of the National Socialist government, where political prisoners, those condemned to death, those in so called “preventative detention” (“Sicherungsverwahrte”), those awaiting trial and war prisoners were incarcerated alongside criminals. Up until the Soviet army liberated the prison on April 27, 1945, more than 2,700 individuals were condemned to die by the National Socialist court and murdered in the execution area, built in 1940. Those executed came from a large variety of European countries.

After the war, the Soviet occupying power used the prison as an internment camp, before it was taken over by the GDR government in 1949/50 for use as a correctional facility. The Brandenburg prison was one of the most feared facilities in the GDR. In addition to criminal prisoners, National Socialist perpetrators and war criminals were imprisoned here. However, there were also numerous opponents of the regime, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, those planning to leave the country and civil rights activists who were held here.

The memorial rooms built in 1975 are now located within today’s correctional facility. There is a guillotine in the historically authentic execution chamber (from the Torgau prison). A small exhibition in the front room provides information about the history of the prison and presents examples of biographies of the execution victims. The Documentation Centre supervises the memorial rooms, takes care of and expands the archive and collections and directs educational projects with students and youth

Address and Hours of Operation

Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten (Brandenburg Memorial Site Foundation)
Dokumentationsstelle Brandenburg (Brandenburg Documentation Centre)
Anton-Saefkow-Allee 2
14772 Brandenburg/H.

Tel.: +49-33 01-20 02 00
Fax: +49-33 01-20 02 01
E-mail: besucherdienst(at)gedenkstaette-sachsenhausen.de
Internet: www.stiftung-bg.de

There are no fixed hours of operation since the memorial rooms are located within the current prison’s inner security area.

Tours and projects are only possible by appointment on Thursdays and Fridays, respectively.

Tour/Project days for a maximum of 15 people costs 15 euros, 25 euros for up to 30 people.
Tours in foreign languages will cost an additional 25 euros.

Regional train RE 1; from Brandenburg central train station, with the Tram line 1 until the stop: Anton-Saefkow-Allee
If you are travelling on the A2 from Berlin direction Magdeburg/Hannover, take the Brandenburg exit and then the B1 main road, direction Genthin.