Forum Polizei_Geschichte Sachsen

About the museum

Its roots go back to 1894, when a crime museum was established in Dresden to train police officers – one of the earliest of its kind in Germany. It was given its own rooms in the police headquarters on Schießgasse, completed around 1900. By the 1920s the teaching collection had grown into one of the largest criminological collections in Europe; it remained closed to the public.

During World War II, most of the holdings were moved to storage and lost. What survived above all were more than 550 teaching boards from the founding period, which show how police officers were trained in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic – for example in fingerprinting, body measurement or crime scene photography. After 1990 the Dresden Police Directorate gathered the remaining objects and showed them to registered groups as the Polizeihistorische Sammlung (police history collection).

Since then, the collection has been redesigned under the name Forum Polizei_Geschichte Sachsen. The forum is organizationally part of the Dresden Police Directorate and is aimed at police trainees as well as members of the public. Large-format projections, an interactive media table and an archive room with historical objects invite conversation about the relationship between police, state and society. In addition, a traveling exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of the Saxon police toured the Free State.

Highlights

• Historical teaching boards from the Dresden crime museum founded in 1894
• Room-filling film projections on identity, crime scene photography and offender types
• Interactive media table with a virtual magnifying glass on Dresden crime scenes and the first state criminal police office
• Archive room with objects on early forensic technology
• Guided tours in the police headquarters on Schießgasse

Permanent exhibitions

• Werkstatt „Unter der Lupe: Die Erfindung der modernen Polizei“ – Work-in-progress exhibition on the modernization of police work between monarchy and republic, with film collages of archival material and a media table that opens up historical crime scenes and Saxony's first state criminal police office.
• Spurensuche Kriminalmuseum – In the archive room, teaching boards and objects from the founding period show how fingerprinting, microphotography and criminal identification found their way into police training.

Founded

1894

Operated by

Polizeidirektion Dresden (Polizei Sachsen)

Admission & discounts

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• 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: no information
• Audio description: no information

The exhibition rooms are not accessible. Anyone needing special assistance can contact the forum in advance.

Kids & families

Only partly suitable for kidsRecommended for ages 15+

According to the registration page, suitable for those aged 15 and over.

Getting there & parking

The visitor address is the Dresden Police Directorate, Schießgasse 7; visitors enter and exit together as a group.

Amenities & dining

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

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit