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Topography of Terror - Berlin Hotels .com

Topographie des Terrors (Topography of Terror--Nazi Atrocities) is a moving open-air exhibit that comprises a long wall with pictures, text, and audio describing the history of the site: the National Socialist offices that once stood on this ground, the policies carried out by the leaders housed here, and the trials that eventually brought them to justice.

Between 1933 and 1945 the entire site--about 15.3 acres in between Niederkirchnerstrasse, Wilhelmstrasse, and Anhalter Strasse--housed the headquarters of the National Socialist Secret State Police and Gestapo, 39 cells in which Gestapo officers interrogated and tortured prisoners, and the offices in which leaders planned and administered the Nazi policies that led Europe and the United States into war.

The ruined buildings themselves were demolished during the 1950s and 1960s, but excavations in the late 1980s led to discovery of remnants of the underground prison cells--and an outcry for a remembrance of the atrocities concocted here. In addition to the open-air display, there is an observation platform and limited pedestrian access to the rest of the site.

In 2006, a winner was chosen in a competition to design a new visitors' center, and the projected opening is in 2009.

Hours:
October through April, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (or until dark)
May through September, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily

Admission: Free

Address:
Niederkirchnerstraße 8, 10963 Berlin

URL: http://www.topographie.de/en/index.htm