Gedenk- und Begegnungsstatte Leistikowstrasse

About

The Leistikow Strasse memorial commemorates the former Soviet military counterintelligence central remand prison that was once located here. There are few historical prisons so authentically preserved. While the mass cells and facilities in the upper floors reveal the conditions in the 1970s, the primitive basement cells with their crude wooden benches testify to the privations endured by prisoners well into the 1950s. Numerous inscriptions carved into the walls by detainees from that time speak of isolation and desperation as well as resilience. The permanent exhibition is illustrated with photographs, endowed with historical artefacts and equipped with media stations that reveal the prison’s story within the wider drama of the Cold War. Fifty biographies have been unearthed, showing just how many different people became inmates, from Nazi-era perpetrators to spies – both real and falsely accused - and Soviet army deserters. Some of them give eyewitness accounts of their fates.

At a glance

• Typical visit: about 1 hour 30 minutes