Skip to main content
History
Blick auf das Gelände der Gedenkstätte

History

Special camp, Soviet remand prison, Stasi prison

View of the railing in Genslerstrasse
View of the railing in Genslerstrasse, Foto: © Dirk Vogel

The site of today's memorial on Genslerstraße and its immediate surroundings are closely linked to the history of Germany since 1945. Different phases of political persecution and imprisonment overlap here in a confined space. Different camps and prisons were located here under Soviet occupation and during the GDR, where political opponents were imprisoned.

 

  • Restricted area

    Not only the prison, but also the immediate surroundings were in the hands of the Stasi and were supposed to remain hidden from the public.

  • Special Camp

    From 1945 to 1946 a special camp of the Soviet secret service was located in Hohenschönhausen.

  • Central Soviet remand prison

    In 1947, the Soviet secret service forced prisoners to built cells in the basement of the former canteen kitchen and set up its central remand prison there.

  • Stasi prison

    In 1951, the secret service of the newly founded GDR, the Ministry for State Security, took over the remand prison.

  • The Stasi prison hospital

    The Stasi's central prison hospital, where prisoners on remand from all over the GDR were treated, was located on the grounds of the remand centre.