24-455: 52°32′30.3″N 13°30′5.4″E / 52.541750°N 13.501500°E / 52.541750; 13.501500 The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial (German: Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen ) is a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen , part of the former borough of Hohenschönhausen . It was opened in 1994 on
48-604: A democratic socialist successor of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which was Marxist–Leninist , as part of its reformist legacy. He has argued that SPD members were the first victims of the Communist dictatorship in East Germany. According to Knabe, "every democrat is an anti-communist". With the avowed intent to call the East German regime to account, Knabe supports pro-business and anti-socialist views. In
72-519: A detention and transit camp, called Special Camp No. 3. The camp served as both a prison and transfer point. Over 20,000 people passed through Special Camp No. 3 on their way to other Soviet camps, including Heinrich George who was brought to the Sachsenhausen camp in 1946 where he died shortly afterwards. Living conditions in the camp were deplorable, with death from malnutrition, disease, or common cold. Although official statistics list 886 deaths at
96-728: A doctoral degree in history at the Freie Universität Berlin . From 1992 to 2000, he worked in the research department of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records . In 2001, he was appointed scientific director of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial . Knabe is committed to not allowing the crimes committed by the East German government to be forgotten. He said: "Not until the Communist dictatorship
120-586: A museum and memorial in a notorious former Stasi torture prison in Berlin. Knabe is noted for several works on oppression in the former Communist states of Eastern Europe , particularly in East Germany . He became involved with green politics , and was active in the Alliance '90/The Greens . Knabe's parents fled East Germany in 1959, and Knabe was born that year and grew up in Unna , North Rhine-Westphalia . His father
144-689: Is as firmly in mind in Germany as the criminal regime of the Nazis will we really have succeeded in coming to terms with the legacy of Stasi minister Erich Mielke ." Knabe has called for a more outspoken anti-communism in German society, and has particularly called upon the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) party to identify with its anti-communist tradition and oppose the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS),
168-417: Is open year-round, with hourly tours between 11:00 and 15:00 (10:00 – 16:00 at weekends). English-speaking tours are conducted three times a day (currently at 10:20, 12:20, and 14:20), year-round except some holidays. Visitors may tour in groups only, entrance fees range from €1, for students, to €6, the normal admission price. Lichtenberg Lichtenberg ( German: [ˈlɪçtn̩ˌbɛʁk] )
192-599: Is the eleventh borough of Berlin , Germany . In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen . The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde , the larger of Berlin's two zoological gardens. During the period of Berlin's partition between West and East, Lichtenberg was the location of the headquarters of the Stasi , the East German state security service. Prior to
216-573: The 1920 Greater Berlin Act . In the 1970s, the East German government had large pre-fabricated high-rise housing estates ( Plattenbau ) built in the east of the Lichtenberg borough. This area was separated off and became the new borough of Marzahn, which included Biesdorf, Hellersdorf, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf in 1979. In 1986, this district in turn was split into the two boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf in 1986, and again merged as Marzahn-Hellersdorf by
240-511: The 2001 administrative reform. The governing body of Lichtenberg is the district council ( Bezirksverordnetenversammlung ). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: The district mayor ( Bezirksbürgermeister ) is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in
264-571: The camp between July 1945 and October 1946, independent estimates put the toll as high as 3,000. Bodies were disposed of in local bomb craters. The camp was closed and prisoners relocated to other camps in October 1946. After the closing of Special Camp No. 3, the Hohenschönhausen compound served as a Soviet prison during the winter of 1946–1947. The former cafeteria was converted to the underground prison area ("submarine") by prison labour. The prison
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#1733084940059288-472: The district government ( Bezirksamt ) are apportioned based on party strength. Michael Grunst of the Left was elected mayor on 16 December 2016. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows: Lichtenberg is twinned with: Hubertus Knabe Hubertus Knabe (born 1959) is a German historian and was the scientific director of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial ,
312-747: The establishment of the GDR it housed the main office of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin, and before that it was an officers' mess of the Wehrmacht . The complex is now the location of the Stasi Museum . The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is on the site of the main remand prison of the Stasi. Additionally, Lichtenberg is the location of the German-Russian Museum , the historical venue of
336-481: The functioning of the prison comes mainly from eye-witness accounts and documents sourced from other East German institutions. The prison was depicted in the 2006 film The Lives of Others , in 2017 TV series The Same Sky , in 2018 Amazon Prime series Deutschland 86 , and in the 2020 series The Defeated . It is a member organisation of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience . The Hohenschönhausen area
360-453: The hospital was run by Dr. Herbert Vogel with 28 full-time Stasi staff. Hohenschönhausen was a very important part of East Germany's system of political oppression. Although torture and physical violence were commonly employed at Hohenschönhausen (especially in the 1950s), psychological intimidation was the main method of political repression and techniques including sleep deprivation, total isolation, threats to friends and family members, and
384-464: The site of the main political prison of the former East German Communist Ministry of State Security, the Stasi . Unlike many other government and military institutions in East Germany , Hohenschönhausen prison was not stormed by demonstrators after the fall of the Berlin Wall , allowing prison authorities to destroy evidence of the prison's functions and history. Because of this, today's knowledge of
408-428: The unconditional surrender of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) on 8 May 1945 . The population is ethnically diverse, and has a significant Vietnamese community. Lichtenberg is divided into 10 localities: The historic village of Lichtenberg together with neighbouring Friedrichsfelde , Karlshorst , Marzahn , Biesdorf , Hellersdorf , Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf was incorporated as the 17th borough of Berlin by
432-535: The use of cells that could be filled with water to prevent the prisoner from sitting or sleeping. A suggested reason why the torture of East Germany's own citizenry was permitted for so long was the Hohenschönhausen exclusion zone. The prison was located in a large restricted area bordered by a large military town. Additionally, it officially did not exist during many of the years it operated, being left off all maps. These two measures combined meant that few people who did not work there knew what occurred inside. Because it
456-529: Was largely industrial prior to World War II. The area later occupied by the main building housed a factory manufacturing supplies for the soup kitchens of the National Socialist People's Welfare organization. That red-brick building was completed in 1939. In June 1945, at the conclusion of World War II , the Soviet NKVD took over the Hohenschönhausen area of Lichtenberg and transformed it into
480-404: Was listed as a historical site in 1992 and welcomed its first visitors in 1994. The Foundation is funded equally by both the German federal government and the Berlin state government. The Foundation was initially headed by Gabriele Camphausen, then by Mechthild Günther, who served as provisional director until September 2000. Hubertus Knabe has since served as executive director. The Foundation
504-467: Was not well known, the prison was not stormed by demonstrators after the fall of the Wall. This allegedly allowed prison authorities to destroy much of the evidence of their activities. Today, much knowledge comes from former prisoners' personal accounts and documentation from other East German institutions. The Hohenschönhausen Memorial ( Gedenkstätte ) was founded in the early 1990s by former inmates. The prison
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#1733084940059528-520: Was reopened by the East German Ministry of State Security (MfS), also known as the Stasi , in 1951. The Stasi added a new prison building (using prisoner labour) in the late 1950s. The new building included 200 prison cells and interrogation rooms. After the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the prison was primarily used to house those who wished or attempted to leave East Germany, although political prisoners were also held there. The prison
552-606: Was the noted ecologist Wilhelm Knabe , later a co-founder and chairman of the German Greens. Knabe was active in the peace movement, and he founded in 1978 a committee in support of Rudolf Bahro , a German philosopher imprisoned in East Germany. Because of his political activities, he was declared persona non grata in East Germany between 1980 and 1987. Knabe served as press spokesman of the Green Party in Bremen from 1983. He obtained
576-476: Was used until die Wende in 1989 and officially closed on 3 October 1990. The main prison also included a hospital wing, built in the 1950s and expanded in 1972. The hospital treated prisoners from all three Berlin prisons and sometimes from regional Stasi prisons as well. The hospital had up to 28 beds (in cells), an X-ray ward, treatment, operating rooms, a morgue, and outdoor exercise cells (called "tiger cages" by prisoners). In 1989, shortly before its closure,
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