Remembrance culture thrives on new societal impulses, but politics also plays an important role in steering, promoting or hindering ideas. We spoke about this with Dr Klaus Lederer, who served as Deputy Governing Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Culture and Europe from 2016 to 2023. During this time, he worked closely with the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site. How does he look back on his time in office?

Historian and journalist Leonie Schöler, known for the historical content she posts on social media, has written Beklaute Frauen, a book about women who have been denied recognition for their achievements. These include intellectuals, researchers and pioneers whose contributions have been deliberately concealed and forgotten. We are interested in her views on history, specifically regarding the culture of remembrance around National Socialism, in light of her professional background and from a gender perspective.

Which stories and locations are underrepresented on commemorative plaques? On behalf of the Berlin Senate, Nora Hogrefe has been serving for five years as head of the ‘Coordination Office for Historical Markers in Berlin’. The office is affiliated with the association Actives Museum, Fascism and Resistance in Berlin e.V. She is the contact person for all commemorative markers in public spaces, most notably, for the state’s own commemorative plaque programme.

The memorial’s opening in 1992, on the 50th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, was preceded by decades of debate over how best to address the site. This early period has now become part of the memorial’s history. In 2024 and 2025, we began conducting interviews with individuals who were a part of this history. We are presenting excerpts from three interviews conducted thus far. They address the memorial’s role in German remembrance culture, public knowledge of the Wannsee Conference, and the ‘mission’ of the new site.

Eighty years after the unconditional surrender of the German army, political and social groups continue to draw very different lessons from this era. Prof. Annette Weinke, chair of our scientific advisory board, examines this chapter for us, describing the collapse of the Nazi regime and the Allies’ response to defeated Germany.

German Remembrance Culture and Israeli Perspectives on Commemorating the Shoah - Invitation to the 84th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, January 20, 2026, 3.30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the House of the Wannsee Conference Educational and Memorial Site. Find more information here!

This is how Fritz Reinhardt, who served as State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Finance throughout the twelve years of the Nazi era, described the agency in court on 14 October 1948. With this statement, he contributed to a post-war narrative that sought to exonerate all of the ministry’s employees at once. An essay by Silke Struck

Although the German police were highly complicit in the crimes committed by the Nazis, after the war ended, the help of the police was urgently needed in Germany’s reconstruction. The Allies efforts to reorganise the police force warrant a closer look. An essay by our colleague Dr Jakob Müller.

In this article, Prof. Eva-Maria Ulmer describes the role of the nursing profession in Nazi Germany and how its work changed after Germany’s military defeat. What was concealed and when was the silence broken?

The Sachsenhausen concentration camp operated as a place of imprisonment and terror for nearly nine years. It continued to function as a detention site even after the evacuation of the camp in April 1945 and its subsequent liberation by Soviet and Polish troops. Dr Enrico Heitzer traces the complex and sometimes controversial history of the camp in Sachsenhausen in 1945.

In the spring of 1945, the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts (Reichskammer der bildenden Künste, RdbK) was nearing its final days of existence. Although the Allied troops were advancing further into the German Reich, the Nazi cultural administration continued to do its job. How did this institution, which had dictated artistic life in the German Reich since 1933, manage during its final months, and what new structures emerged in the occupation zones after the war ended?

On the Roof of Himmler's Guesthouse - The U.S. Army in Wannsee in 1945 Special exhibition, including an audio walk, in the garden of the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site. June 19, 2025, to June 30, 2026, open daily 10 am to 6 pm, admission free.

Despite the many breaks and new beginnings in 1945, broadcasting did not experience a zero hour. As in virtually all areas of society, personnel continuity was the rule, illustrated here by the example of Josef Pelz von Felinau. ‘Hypnose’, written by Josef Pelz von Felinau, was the first radio play aired on German radio after the war.

The Nazis employed film as a propaganda tool; consequently, the film industry also had to contend with ‘denazification’ measures following the collapse of the ‘Third Reich’. Yet, those who expected people in the ‘business’ to maintain a consistent position on the issue would be disappointed. By Wolfgang Jacobsen.

This essay explores the antisemitic and racist propaganda employed by the National Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB) and the direct involvement of educational professionals in the crimes. Special attention is paid to late 1944/early 1945. The NSLB organisation had already been shut down by then, but its central publication was still spreading intensified propaganda in response to the impending defeat. The difficulties faced by the Allies in their effort to rebuild the school system in 1945 oscillated between denazification and ‘renazification’. This also applies to efforts within the entire pedagogical discipline to repress the Nazi past after the war.

April 29, 2025, 6 p.m.: we would like to invite you to the opening of the sound installation 'Wulf, the Children and the Forgotten Garden', by Yael Reuveny, Clemens Walter und Barbara Morgenstern. With guided walks through the installation with the artists, participatory music performances, film screenings and readings. More information and registration here!

The assertion that the judiciary was experiencing a ‘zero hour’ had already become popular in the early postwar period. Following the collapse of the National Socialist dictatorship, German jurisprudence in the occupation zones could not possibly continue seamlessly. Professor Benjamin Lahusen explores this period of German history.

Despite the increasingly hopeless situation of the war, the German administration stuck to its procedures until the very end. After Heinrich Himmler’s suicide, Dr Wilhelm Stuckart, a Wannsee Conference participant, assumed leadership of the Interior Ministry in the Dönitz government. He worked for a Reich government without a Reich until his arrest.

To kick off our newsletter series commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the war and liberation, Dr Wolf Kaiser, the long-time head of our education department, focuses on the perspective of those who suffered persecution. When did they start hoping for liberation, what did they expect from it and how did they describe the events? Dr Kaiser also explores the insights that can be drawn from their writings.

27 January marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. To mark the occasion, we are showing a four-part film series in cooperation with the Haus des Dokumentarfilms and the Bundesplatz-Kino, starting on 26 January at 3 pm. A discussion with experts will take place before and after the screenings of these rarely shown documentary films. Find more information about the programme, in German only, here.

Eighty years ago, on 1 December 1944, an official meeting concerning future ‘sociological questions and tasks’ was held in the ‘Comradeship and Leadership House of the Security Police’, the former ‘Guesthouse of the Security Police and SD’. The gathering was chaired by Otto Ohlendorf, State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Economics and SS Group Leader.

After the Shoah - then what? Contradictions and Inconsistencies in Reckoning with the Past in Germany Since 1945. Introduction by Niels Pohl-Schneeberger & Dr Ruth Preusse; Keynote by Prof. Gideon Reuveni: The Jewish Search for Reckoning and ‘Wiedergutmachung’ after the Holocaust; followed by a panel discussion with Zarin Aschrafi, Dr Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, Dr Klaus Lederer, Dr Volker Weiß & Prof. Gideon Reuveni - moderated by Dr Andrea Despot

This is the title of a special exhibition that opened on the front plaza of the Wannsee Villa on November 14, 2024. The exhibition was realised in collaboration with the ‘Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre’ Centre in Lublin, where it is simultaneously on view. Created in the context of the 'Stiftung-EVZ'-funded project ‘Unveiling Aktion Reinhardt’, it aims to raise awareness about the significance of this murderous operation and strengthen a common European culture of remembrance.

We invite you to participate in an online workshop, 12 december 2024, 1 p.m. - 6:30 p.m, designed for educators of historical-political education, organised by Forum for Dialogue. The event is held in English.

The international conference “Witness Knowledge and Engaged Historiography: The Holocaust Historian and Documentarian Joseph Wulf (1912-1974)” was held at the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site from 8 -10 October 2024. The program included an annotated reading from Wulf’s extensive correspondence with various figures of contemporary history – an excerpt.

For some people, the very name of this Berlin neighbourhood is synonymous with the murder of the European Jews. For others, the first thing they notice when they visit the memorial is the beauty of the park grounds. A new special exhibition in the building and garden reveals the various perspectives of this site.

The Holocaust historian and documentarist Joseph Wulf (1912–1974). Register now for the international English-German conference on the occasion of the 50th commemoration of his death on October 10, 1974

A report on the memorial seminar held from 26 to 28 June at the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site compiled by Dr Matthias Haß, head of the Education and Research Department

The Holocaust historian and documentarist Joseph Wulf (1912–1974). Register now for the international English-German conference on the occasion of the 50th commemoration of his death on October 10, 1974

The former German military commander in Belgium and northern France is considered a “man of the resistance.” Yet, early on, attention was drawn to his involvement in the persecution and deportation of Belgium’s Jewish population. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the 20 July 1944 attempted coup, we wish to address this topic.

The Holocaust historian and documentarist Joseph Wulf (1912–1974). An international conference on the occasion of the 50th commemoration of his death on October 10, 1974

Summary of the symposium held on 7 May 2024 at the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site and attended by representatives of the police, the Bundeswehr and history and civic education staff

Visitor research requires us to critically scrutinise our work and consider whose perspectives have been considered thus far in our exhibition and educational programs. Are they those of academia, educational professionals or our own, and whose perspective could we add? In summer 2023, researchers observed and conducted surveys with visitors of our permanent exhibition. The analysis of their findings demonstrates the potential of this research.

We have just published the second, revised and expanded edition of our German anthology about the ‘Men of the Wannsee Conference’. In addition to chapters on the 15 participants, it now includes a biographical portrait of an additional attendee: Ingeburg Werlemann, Adolf Eichmann’s secretary in the Reich Security Main Office, who took notes during the meeting on 20 January 1942.

The Memorial and Educational Centre is launching a new format in 2024. We are producing an English-language podcast aimed at introducing our work to an interested international audience and engaging in dialogue with experts. In our first episode, we spoke with the American historian Professor Michael A. Meyer about Leo Baeck.

We were invited to the Jewish Community of Berlin on January 21, 2024 to hold our event on the occasion of the 82nd annual commemoration of the Wannsee Conference. The following lecture, held by our colleagues Aya Zarfati and Dr. Matthias Haß, introduced a two-part discussion on the parallels between the current political situation and the Weimar Republic and to consider what actions can be taken in the areas of justice, education, media, art and culture.

Having selected antisemitism as this year’s focus, we have sought to address it in multiple ways, both internally and externally. This newsletter, introduced by our director Deborah Hartmann, thus also touches on aspects of this topic, sometimes explicitly and other times indirectly...

It was 80 years ago, in spring 1943, that the SS and police in Warsaw eliminated the remnants of the once largest Jewish community in Europe – a community that put up great resistance in the process. The work of the perpetrators is uniquely documented in the final report of the commanding SS and police officer Jürgen Stroop. Martin Cüppers, scientific head of the Forschungsstelle Ludwigsburg at the University of Stuttgart, has taken a closer look at this primary source...

On 10 May 2023, we held the symposium “Thinking with Algorithms?” with educators from different fields. It focused on the challenges and opportunities created by digitization as well as the problem of online antisemitism. Our research assistant Judith Alberth reported on the event...

We invited representatives of various professional groups with whom we organize training seminars to join us in an exchange of ideas at the symposium “Thinking with Algorithms?” held on 10 May 2023. Winfrid Wenzel, Antisemitism Commissioner for the Berlin Police, also attended the event and we met him beforehand for an interview...

The year 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the Rosenstrasse protests in Berlin and the first deportations of Sinti and Roma from Germany to Auschwitz; it is also the 90th anniversary of the boycott of Jewish-owned stores. In the first half of the year, the Education and Research Department organized a series of webinars…

In January 2023, we launched an exhibition on antisemitism since 1945 in our 1st-floor hallway. Each month we create a new poster to commemorate an antisemitic attack that occurred in the past seven decades. The exhibition illustrates how hatred towards Jews has been a continuous phenomenon in Germany and provides examples of the many different manifestations of this antisemitism...

The GHWK is one of the supporters of the “Education and Weeks of Action against Antisemitism,” a campaign that has taken place annually for twenty years. Nikolas Lelle from the Amadeu Antonio Foundation considered the past and future of this campaign...

In 1983, Stern magazine announced that it had acquired Hitler’s diaries. The editor-in-chief wrote about it in an editorial: “Some of the history of the Third Reich will now have to be rewritten.” The northern German broadcasting company NDR discovered what he meant by this and put the entire fake version online for everyone to read. The Wannsee Conference also plays a curious role in these forged diaries...

In February, multipliers from various Israeli memorial sites were hosted by us for a week-long training course under the motto "Who writes history and why? Historikerstreit 2.0, 'competing' memories and the discourse about the Holocaust in contemporary Germany". We asked them to tell us here about their impressions...

Our director Deborah Hartmann is looking ahead: For the first time, we have chosen a theme to accompany 2023. On the 90th anniversary of the Nazi’s rise to power, we will be focusing on Antisemitism...

"...and to alarm the whole world". Jewish Resistance and Self-Assertion in Response to the Shoah - program and registration for our event on the annual commemoration of the meeting at Wannsee, Jan. 19, 2023, 6-9 pm, on site and online, find all information here!

The exhibition by the Israeli artist Inbar Chotzen is on display at the “Villa Oppenheim” in Charlottenburg until 26 March. We contributed a small historical segment from the Chotzen family estate...

Our new colleague Lucas Frings presents his project “Antisemitism and Youth”, which the Memorial and Educational Site is conducting in cooperation with the University of Duisburg-Essen until 2024...

An exhibition project in the hallway outside the seminar rooms on the first floor will be developed over the next 12 months. It will have an analogue and digital form and also be interactive...

2023 marks the 90th anniversary of the National Socialist burning of books. To commemorate the occasion, we will be holding our 6th annual reading on the burning of books, but this year there will be some changes...

What are we planning for the commemorative year of 2023? Event information and other dates for the first half of the year in and with our villa can be found here...

Dear Sir or Madam, dear friends, the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site is revamping its Newsletter. In the first issue in the new format, we look back on the creation and conception of our permanent exhibition, which opened in January 2020.

Dr. Elke Gryglewski, former acting director of our museum and member of the New Permanent Exhibition management team, on the synthesis of fundamental parameters of the new permanent exhibition.

Our curators Babette Quinkert and Katharina Zeiher on their work on the exhibition "The Meeting at the Wannsee and the Murder of the European Jews"

"It was like seeing something that others cannot see." Our focus group, ten people representing the fields of seeing, hearing, moving, understanding and feeling from associations of people with disabilities, reports on their participation - from the very beginning.

Our website offers different ways to get to know the new permanent exhibition in digital space.

September 13-14, 2021: From Dictatorship to Democracy. Symposium by Invitation of the Research Project »The Berlin Administration of Justice after 1945« - with scholars and lawyers from Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, and Germany. Program and registration here!