Aktives Museum Südwestfalen
Learning and memorial site in Siegen on the Nazi era in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district – in a bunker built on the walls of the synagogue destroyed in 1938.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The synagogue of the Jewish community was inaugurated in 1904 on Obergraben in Siegen's Oberstadt. During the November pogrom, SS men burned it down on 10 November 1938; the city took over the plot in 1940 and had an air-raid bunker built on the foundations. For a long time little there recalled the destroyed house of worship.
After a commemorative event in 1991, the idea arose of creating a place of remembrance in the bunker. A support association was founded in 1993, and on 10 November 1996 the Aktives Museum Südwestfalen opened. In 2001 the association received the entire lower floor and expanded the exhibition into "Resistance and Persecution in the Siegen-Wittgenstein District", which now included all victim groups.
After around five years of conversion, the museum opened a new permanent exhibition in June 2026. It asks about belonging, exclusion and persecution and tells of the persecuted and of people who resisted, as well as of those who went along with the regime. Run by volunteers, the museum addresses young people in particular and offers workshops, city walks to places of remembrance and a digital book of remembrance.
Key themes
- Bunker on the foundation walls of the Siegen synagogue destroyed in 1938
- New permanent exhibition "Bin Mensch nicht auch ich?" (since 2026)
- Model of the Siegen synagogue
- City walks to Stolpersteine and places of remembrance
- Active book of remembrance for Nazi victims of the region
Permanent exhibition
- „Bin Mensch nicht auch ich?“ zugehörig – ausgegrenzt – verfolgt – The exhibition, opened in 2026, examines complicity, exclusion, persecution and resistance in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district during the Nazi era through regional life stories.
- Founded
- 1996
- Operated by
- Aktives Museum Südwestfalen e. V.
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
| Groups | –Short tour of the special exhibitions €40 (30–45 min.), walks and city tours €60 (1.5–2 hours) per group; brief introduction free of charge. |
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Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
Only partly suitable for kids
The programmes are aimed above all at teenagers and school classes.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Siegen Löhrtor
From Siegen central bus station, bus lines C105, C106, C107 to the stop "Siegen Löhrtor"; from the railway station on foot via Bahnhofstraße and Koblenzer Straße up to Obergraben.
By car
No on-site parking at the museum.
Parkhaus Altstadt at Löhrtor.
By car from Spandauer Straße (B 54) onto Löhrtor, then left into Kohlbettstraße and left into Obergraben.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 1.5 hrs |
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| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Guided tours, city walks (including Stolpersteine Hammerhütte, Jewish life in Siegen, Hermelsbach cemetery, perpetrator sites) and workshops for school classes and groups by registration; walks also available in English. |
