NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne

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Logo of the NS Documentation Center
The permanent exhibition, December 2010
Cell wing in the basement, December 2010

The NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne is a museum , memorial and research facility on the history of the city during the Nazi era (1933 to 1945). It is located in the EL-DE building at Appellhofplatz 23-25.

History of origin

In the run-up to the Lischka trial in Cologne (start of the trial: October 23, 1979), the former Cologne Gestapo prison in the EL-DE building became known to a wider public as a result of information from citizens . In March 1979 Kurt Holl announced with a spectacular action in which he went to the cellar there overnight and documented the inscriptions behind the removed shelves with the photographer Gernot Huber, that the former in the file cellar of the house used by the city administration was still there Gestapo cells with their inscriptions were preserved. Due to public pressure and the intervention of the former Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt with Oberstadtdirektor Kurt Rossa , a decision of the city led to the city curator Hiltrud Kier having the cellar and the inscriptions restored. While this gave rise to the decision to set up the memorial, which opened on December 4, 1981, a research center at the historical archive was set up at the time of National Socialism in Cologne, under the direction of the historian Horst Matzerath .

In 1987 the Cologne Council decided to set up the NS Documentation Center , which moved into premises in the EL-DE House and began there on September 19, 1988. Only as a result of a reorganization was the research center disconnected from the historical archive on March 25, 1997 and placed on an equal footing with the other municipal museums. After the departure of the first director of the NS Documentation Center, Matzerath, the long-time employee Werner Jung took over his position on December 5, 2002 . The historian Karola Fings became the deputy director on January 1, 2003 .

The museum

The heart of the museum is the Gestapo prison memorial in the basement of the building. There are cells in which Gestapo prisoners were housed and whose walls were labeled by the inmates. Since 2013 the inner courtyard, the former place of execution, has also been available to the center as a viewing site.

The history of the Nazi era in Cologne is presented on two additional floors in the permanent exhibition Cologne under National Socialism . In addition to this permanent presentation, which opened in 1997, the National Socialist Documentation Center offers several special exhibitions on local and national aspects with accompanying events every year.

The research department of the National Socialist Documentation Center develops historical principles that are used in exhibitions, publications in the in-house series, interactively usable databases and internet projects. One aim of the work is to reconstruct files that were largely destroyed during the war and immediately after the war . The center has a special library with a reading room as well as work and media rooms.

The information and education center against right-wing extremism (ibs) is also located in the Nazi Documentation Center . The ibs is to contribute to the promotion of democratic culture with a wide range of educational opportunities for young people - teaching units, workshops and project days - the training of multipliers, support for project development and other activities. One of the ibs projects is mobile advice against right-wing extremism in the Cologne district.

Due to a resolution of the Council of the City of Cologne from 2017, the premises of the Cologne city administration, which are located on the upper two floors of the EL-DE building, can also be used and redesigned by the NS-Dok from 2019. Under the concept of House for Remembrance and Democracy, there are plans to expand the educational offerings of the Documentation Center and develop a modern offer for promoting democracy.

Visitor numbers

In 2002 almost 26,000 people visited the center, in 2011 there were over 56,000 visitors.

In 2015 the documentation center had 77,000 visitors, 23 percent more than in 2014. Around two thirds of them were school classes. The increasing visitor trend continues: In 2017, 89,212 visitors came to the NS Documentation Center. The previous visitor record was reached in 2018 with 92,777 people.

Awards

Others

The NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne maintains a database of the stumbling blocks laid in Cologne .

The 2000th stumbling block was set in the area of ​​the city of Cologne on September 2, 2014.

Special exhibitions (selection)

  • November 1988 to January 1989: Jewish fate in Cologne 1918–1945
  • November 2002 to February 2003: Special characteristics: Negro. Blacks in the Nazi state
  • May 2003 to November 2003: Pictures of a strange city. Forced labor in Cologne 1929–1945
  • November 2003 to January 2004: Hans Calmeyer and the rescue of Jews in the Netherlands
  • August to September 2004: Oneg Shabbat. The underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto - Ringelblum Archive . In cooperation with the German Trade Union Federation Cologne, the synagogue community and the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation
  • September to November 2004: The memory of places. Crime scenes of National Socialist crimes in Cologne . A photo project by Sabine Würich
  • May to November 2005: Between the fronts. Experiences in Cologne from 1939–1945
  • May to September 2006: The " Lischka Trial". Three Nazi perpetrators on trial in Cologne in 1979
  • January to August 2008: “Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome…” Political Revue - Varieté in Cologne 1928–1938
  • November 2008 to January 2009: Jewish life in Cologne 1918–1945
  • November 2009 to January 2010: Holy Night. Christmas in political propaganda. In collaboration with the “Christmas Collection - Rita Breuer ”.
  • May to September 2010: Cologne and its Jewish architects . In collaboration with Wolfram Hagspiel .
  • November 2011 to March 2012: Kölle Alaaf under the swastika
  • November 2013 to March 2014: Bertha Sander "A whole life in a hat box"
  • November 21, 2014 to May 3, 2015: Auschwitz death factory : topography and everyday life in a concentration and extermination camp .
  • May 22nd to October 4th, 2015: victories for the leader. Sports in Cologne during the Nazi era
  • October 23, 2015 to January 31, 2016: August Sander's unbending son. Erich Sander as a prisoner and prison photographer in the Siegburg prison from 1935 to 1944
  • February 19 to April 3, 2016: Stolen children - forgotten victims
  • April 22 to August 21, 2016: Fritz Bauer . The prosecutor. Nazi crimes in court (an exhibition by the Fritz Bauer Institute and the Jewish Museum Frankfurt )
  • June 15 to August 21, 2016 in the vault: Philibert and Fif. A French slave laborer's sketch pad
  • September 16, 2016 to March 12, 2017: Youth in step !? - The Hitler Youth between claim and reality
  • November 8-20, 2016: Memorial to the NSU attacks in Keupstrasse and Probsteigasse
  • April 7 to June 25, 2017: mass shootings. The Holocaust between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea 1941–1944 (an exhibition by the Topography of Terror Foundation and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation )
  • May 5 to June 25, 2017: "Russian camp" and forced labor. Pictures and memories of Soviet prisoners of war (an exhibition by the KONTAKTE-KOHTAKTbI eV association)
  • 7 July to 8 October 2017: "Race diagnosis: Gypsies": The genocide of the Sinti and Roma and the long struggle for recognition (an exhibition by the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma )
  • October 19, 2017 to February 18, 2018: Maly Trostenets extermination site. History and Remembrance (an exhibition by the International Education and Meeting Association gGmbh (IBB Dortmund), the International Education and Meeting Center "Johannes Rau" Minsk (IBB Minsk) and the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe )
  • March 9 to April 29, 2018: The Warsaw Uprising . 1944 (an exhibition of the Warsaw Rising Museum )
  • May 10th to July 1st 2018: Your Anne. A girl writes history. (an exhibition by the Anne Frank Center eV in Berlin in collaboration with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam).
  • May 25 to July 8, 2018 in the vault: Homeless people under National Socialism (an exhibition by BAG Homeless Aid eV)
  • September 14th to November 4th 2018: Initiated. Anti-Semitic and racist stickers from 1880 to today (an exhibition by the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the TU Berlin, the Center for Jewish Studies Berlin-Brandenburg , and the NS Documentation Center in Munich ).
  • November 16, 2018 to February 24, 2019: "Everywhere Luther's words ..." Martin Luther under National Socialism (an exhibition by the Topography of Terror Foundation and the German Resistance Memorial Center )
  • January 24th to March 3rd, 2019 in the vault: "Remembering - a bridge to the future" - Exhibition for the 2019 Memorial Day for Young People and Schoolchildren
  • March 15 to May 26, 2019: The People's Court 1934–1945 - Terror through "Law" (an exhibition by the Topography of Terror Foundation )
  • May 17 to July 14, 2019: New building in the Rhineland and Palestine - Erez Israel : Josef Rings and Erich Mendelsohn
  • 7 June to 18 August 2019: Albert Speer in the Federal Republic. On dealing with the German past
  • September 2 to November 3, 2019: War experiences 1939–1945 - Cologne citizens on the front and home front

Publications

Series of publications

  • Barbara Becker-Jákli , Horst Matzerath , Harald Buhlan: Hidden Past. About dealing with the Nazi era in Cologne. Articles and essays. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 1), Emons Verlag , Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-9244-9151-8 .
  • Thomas Deres, Martin Rüther (Ed.): Photography prohibited! Secret recordings of the destruction of Cologne . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 2) Emons Verlag, Cologne 1995. ISBN 3-924491-55-0 .
  • Karola Fings: Cologne Exhibition Center. A satellite concentration camp in the center of the city . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 3). Emons-Verlag Cologne 1996. ISBN 392449178X .
  • Karin Dördelmann: The power of words. Denunciations in National Socialist Cologne . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 4). Emons Verlag, Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-924491-15-1 .
  • Hiltrud Kier, Karen Lieserfeld, Horst Matzerath (eds.): Architecture of the 30s / 40s in Cologne. Materials on building history under National Socialism. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 5). Emons Verlag, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-89705-103-6 .
  • Michael Buddrus , Katja Klee, Gerhard Kock, Martin Rüther: “They couldn't have it nicer at home!” Sent to Kinderland from Cologne and the surrounding area 1941–1945. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 6). Emons Verlag, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-89705-174-5 .
  • Harald Buhlan, Werner Jung (ed.): Whose friend and whose helper? The Cologne Police under National Socialism. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 7). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2000. ISBN 3-89705-200-8 .
  • Barbara Becker-Jákli, Werner Jung, Martin Rüther: National Socialism and Regional History. Festschrift for Horst Matzerath . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 8), Emons Verlag, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-89705-255-5 .
  • Jürgen Müller: Exclusion of homosexuals from the "national community". The persecution of homosexuals in Cologne 1933-1945 . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 9). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2003. ISBN 3-89705-275-X .
  • Britta Bopf: "Aryanization" in Cologne. The destruction of the economic existence of the Jews 1933-1945 . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 10). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2004. ISBN 3-89705-311-X .
  • Barbara Becker-Jákli: The Jewish Hospital in Cologne. The history of the Israelite asylum for the sick and the elderly 1869-1945 . (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 11), Emons Verlag, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-89705-350-0 .
  • Martin Rüther: Cologne's everyday life in World War II and experiences between 1939 and 1945 . With contributions by Gebhard Aders (= writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 12). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2005. ISBN 978-3-89705-407-3 .
  • Karola Fings, Frank Sparing: Racism, Camp, Genocide. The national-socialist gypsy persecution in Cologne (= writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 13). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2006. ISBN 978-3-89705-408-0 .
  • Jürgen Müller: "Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome ..." Political revue-cabaret-variety in Cologne 1928-1938 (= publications of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 14). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2008. ISBN 978-3-89705-549-0 .
  • Thomas Roth: "Fight against crime" and social exclusion in National Socialist Cologne. Criminal police, criminal justice and deviating behavior between taking power and the end of the war. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 15). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2010. ISBN 978-3-89705-579-7 .
  • Sonja Endres: Forced sterilization in Cologne 1934–1945. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 16). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2010. ISBN 978-3-89705-697-8 .
  • Faye Cukier: Escape from the swastika. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. Volume 17). Emons Publishing House. Cologne 2012. ISBN 978-3-89705-987-0 .
  • Marcus Leifeld : The Cologne Carnival in the Time of National Socialism From the regional folk festival to the propaganda instrument of the National Socialist community. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne; Volume 18). Emons Verlag, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-95451-405-2 .
  • Angelika Lehndorff – Felsko: »They dragged us to Cologne ...« Excerpts from 500 interviews with former forced laborers. (= Writings of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne, Volume 19) Emons Verlag, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-95451-367-3 .

Single publications (selection)

  • Gabriele Rogmann (editing), Horst Matzerath (editing): Memorial book. The Jewish Victims of National Socialism from Cologne = messages from the city archive of Cologne. 77th issue. Böhlau publishing house. Cologne 1995. ISBN 3-412-12694-2 .
  • Cologne under National Socialism A short guide through the EL-DE house. Cologne 2011. ISBN 978-3-89705-209-3 .
  • Barbara Becker-Jákli: The Jewish Cologne. History and present. A city guide . Emons Verlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-89705-873-6 .

Web links

Commons : EL-DE-Haus  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bulletin of the City of Cologne. No. 16 of April 22, 1997. No. 075. Reorganization of the NS Documentation Center ; so far at 4105 Hist. Archive, with effect from March 25, 1997 made independent, now 4104 NS Documentation ...
  2. ↑ The ibs in the NS-DOK. In: museenkoeln.de. Retrieved February 23, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Right-wing extremism: Mobile advice centers with basic work. In: wdr.de. September 25, 2018, accessed February 3, 2019 .
  4. ^ The Council of the City of Cologne (ed.): Minutes of the 30th meeting of the Council in the 2014/2020 electoral period . July 2017, p. 41 ( stadt-koeln.de [accessed on June 26, 2019]).
  5. ^ Nicola Ninnemann: NS document continues on the road to success. In: report-k.de . April 24, 2012, accessed February 28, 2020.
  6. ↑ Number of visitors to Nazi memorials - interest in the Nazi past. In: domradio.de . January 16, 2016, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  7. ↑ NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne (ed.): Annual report 2018 . 2019, ISBN 978-3-938636-29-9 , pp. 71 .
  8. ↑ Beatrix Lampe: Many people affectionately call her "Mama". In: ksta.de. June 4, 2004, accessed October 20, 2018 .
  9. ^ Bye Bye Elzbieta… In: Facebook presence of the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne. June 3, 2014, accessed October 20, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Looking back and forward - learning from history. In: die-bonn.de. December 1, 2007, accessed May 29, 2019 .
  11. ↑ stumbling blocks | Memorials for the victims of National Socialism. Stumbling block database of the city of Cologne. In: museenkoeln.de. Retrieved April 21, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Interview with Dr. Barbara Becker-Jákli, NS DOK Cologne, on the exhibition JEWISH LIFE IN COLOGNE 1918-45. In: gods-sabbath.de. January 19, 2009, accessed March 10, 2020 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 '26.3 "  N , 6 ° 57' 0.5"  E