Dokumentationsstätte Gefangenenhaus Ostertorwache
Nazi-era memorial in the former prison wing of Bremen's Ostertorwache: five preserved cells tell of Gestapo detention and penal custody.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Ostertorwache on Bremen's Wallanlagen was built in the 1820s as a neoclassical guardhouse and detention building. For some 150 years, the rear part of the building was used as a place of detention: first as a prison, in the Nazi era as the Gestapo's prison, where opponents of the regime were held in overcrowded cells and windowless basement rooms, later as police custody and finally as a deportation detention centre. After a fire largely destroyed the upper floor in 1996, its use as a prison ended.
Since the mid-1980s, Bremen initiatives had campaigned for the victims of National Socialism to be commemorated in the former prison. In 1993, the Senate decided to set up a documentation centre on the history of the building and commissioned the Bremen State Archive to develop the concept. Because the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus was being built in the front wing at the same time, only a few ground-floor cells remained for the memorial.
A working group from the State Archive and the associations “Erinnern für die Zukunft” and “Gedenkstätte Ostertorwache” redesigned the rooms from 1998; the documentation centre opened in autumn 1999. Five former cells in the right wing have served as exhibition rooms since then, some with reconstructed furnishings. The State Archive is the operator of the site and organises visits and tours together with the two associations.
Key themes
- Five original prison cells in the right wing of the Ostertorwache
- Documentation on Gestapo detention in Bremen 1933–1945
- History of the building from detention house to deportation detention
- Part of Bremen's Kulturmeile next to the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus
Permanent exhibition
- Dokumentationsstätte im ehemaligen Zellentrakt – In five preserved cells, the history of the building as a place of detention is traced, with a focus on Gestapo detention during the Nazi era. Some cells show reconstructed furnishings.
- Founded
- 1999
- Operated by
- Staatsarchiv Bremen
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Theater am Goetheplatz · 100 m
Tram 2 or 3 to “Theater am Goetheplatz”, then about 100 m back; alternatively from the central stop “Domsheide” about 500 m on foot. From the main station about 20 minutes on foot via Bahnhofstraße, Herdentorsteinweg and Am Wall.
By car
No on-site parking at the museum.
No car park of its own; the nearest is the “Theater/Kulturmeile” underground car park (city centre parking guidance system), a few minutes' walk away.
Entrance in the building of the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus, Am Wall 209, in the Wallanlagen on the Kulturmeile.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Group tours by telephone arrangement; enquiries are coordinated by the Bremen State Archive. Tours are also offered by the Bremer Touristik-Zentrale and StattReisen Bremen. The cells are very small and hold only a few people at a time. |
