Gedenkstätte Ahlem

About the museum

In 1893 the Jewish banker Moritz Simon founded an educational institution in Ahlem where Jewish young people were trained mainly in horticulture; it also included an elementary school. Over the decades the Israelitische Gartenbauschule earned an international reputation, and after 1933 it prepared many young people for emigration, especially to Palestine.

From the fall of 1941 the Nazis misused the site as a central assembly point: more than 2,000 Jewish men and women from southern Lower Saxony were gathered here and deported in seven transports. From 1943 the Gestapo used the director's house as a branch office, and in 1944 the main building became a substitute police prison. In the final weeks of the war the Gestapo executed at least 59 prisoners in the former sukkah. After liberation, survivors briefly ran an agricultural kibbutz on the site.

In 1987 the district of Hannover set up a memorial and remembrance site in the former director's house; since 2001 the Hannover Region has been responsible for it. From 2012 to 2014 the building and exhibition were completely redesigned and extended with a glass annex. Today the permanent exhibition combines eyewitness interviews, documents and media stations; on the outdoor grounds the “Wand der Namen” (Wall of Names) and a monument on the site of the sukkah commemorate the victims.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition on Jewish life at the horticultural school and on Nazi persecution
• “Wand der Namen” (Wall of Names) with more than 3,000 plaques for victims
• Monument on the site of the former sukkah, a Gestapo execution site
• Video archive with more than 150 eyewitness interviews
• Free guided tours and workshops for school classes

Permanent exhibitions

• Dauerausstellung Gedenkstätte Ahlem – Across two floors, the exhibition covers German-Jewish life at the horticultural school from 1893 to 1942 and after 1945, as well as exclusion, deportation and Gestapo terror in Ahlem – told through eyewitness interviews and media stations.

Founded

1987

Operated by

Region Hannover

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission, guided tours and educational programs are free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Accessible according to the Hannover Region. Media guide with automatic location detection, also for people with hearing impairments and in Easy Language (Leichte Sprache).

Kids & families

Only partly suitable for kids

Memorial site; the educational programs are aimed at school groups from grade 7.

Getting there & parking

The historic Mädchenhaus (Wunstorfer Landstraße 5) can be reached with RegioBus 700 to the stop Tegtmeyerallee.

Amenities & dining

Media library on the ground floor.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit