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Start:   U-Bhf Magdalenenstraße
End:    Hohenschönhausen Memorial
The tour consists of 2 sections

Length:  7,2 km
On foot: 2,5 h

Alt-Lichtenberg section:

On this tour, you follow the traces of contemporary history and learn about two important relics of the political system of the East German regime.

U-Bahnhof Magdalenenstraße is the start of your tour back in time. This is where the Normannenstraße Research Centre and Memorial is located. Spread over an area of some two square kilometres was the headquarters of the Ministry for State Security until 1990. Today this is a centre for the collection, documentation, processing and exhibiting of relics as well as for researching and informing visitors about the political system, the secret service, as well as the resistance and opposition in East Germany. A permanent exhibition provides real-life glimpses into the structure and operation of the notorious state apparatus. The offices and working spaces of the last Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke, are preserved in their original condition. The exhibition is open to individual visitors; groups may register for different thematic tours, talk to contemporary witnesses and attend seminars.

When you leave the premises, walk towards Normannenstraße. Your path will lead you past the HOWOGE- arena “Hans Zoschke” stadium to a building complex on Gotlindestraße, which is now used by the Employment Agency, among others. This was the location of the main Cadre and Training Department, the post surveillance and the State Security’s telecommunications.

After a few minutes walking along Gudrunstraße, you reach  Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery and the Memorial of the Socialists. Many prominent people of the 20th century and leading representatives of the worker’s movement have found their final resting place there.

Normannenstraße Research Centre and Memorial

Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery

Alt-Hohenschönhausen section:

Take the Bus in the direction of Konrad-Wolf-Straße. The Hohenschönhausen Memorial is located in Freienwalder Straße at a place of political persecution under the East German regime. Thousands of politically persecuted persons were imprisoned in the former detention centre of the Ministry for State Security(MfS), which was in operation until 1989. Large portions of the building and facilities have been preserved intact, thus providing an authentic impression of the conditions in the prison. You are usually guided through the prison by former inmates. Exhibitions, presentation and discussion events, seminars and project days round off the offerings of the memorial.

Alongside the central detention centre and work camp “X”, a series of other MfS institutions were headquartered here. After the complex on Normannenstraße, this restricted area in Hohenschönhausen was the largest MfS location in Berlin. Since 2008, 13 information steles and a marking on the ground denote both the urban dimension and important buildings and locations in the former restricted zone of Hohenschönhausen. Photos, plans and text explain the history and function of the buildings in their development between 1945 and 1990.

Interesting facts:

The commemorative plaque in Rüdickenstraße in Hohenschönhausen serves as a reminder of the 30th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the district in 1984. This was where the first 12 residential areas of the newly created district of Hohenschönhausen were handed over by the construction companies on 14 April 1986. In the centre of Mühlengrund stands the Mühlenbrunnen well, created by the artist Achim Kühn.

 

Legende – Tour 4
Contemporary history

Start:   U-Bhf Magdalenenstraße
End:    Hohenschönhausen Memorial

Length:  7,2 km
On Foot: 2,5 h

The tour consists of 2 sections.

Normannenstraße Research Centre and Memorial
Ruschestraße 103

 HOWOGE- Arena „Hans Zoschke“ stadium
Normannenstr. 26

Gotlindestraße building complex
Gotlindestr. 93

Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery and Memorial of the Socialists
Gudrunstr. 20

Hohenschönhausen Memorial
Genslerstraße 66

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End of tour
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