On 20 January 1942, fifteen senior officials of the SS, the Nazi party and several Reich ministries met in this villa on the shore of Lake Wannsee to organise their cooperation in the deportation and murder of the Jews of Europe. Since January 1992, fifty years after the meeting, the villa has housed the Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz, both a memorial and an educational site. Admission is free and the exhibition is open every day from 10am to 6pm, except on a few public holidays, including 3 October. Allow half a day from central Berlin, travel included: the villa is in the Wannsee district, in the south-west of the city.
Highlights
Villa Marlier
Built in 1914-1915 by the architect Paul Baumgarten for the industrialist Ernst Marlier, it was bought in 1940 by the Nordhav Foundation, set up by Reinhard Heydrich, which turned it into a guesthouse for the Security Police and the SD. Its peaceful lakeside setting contrasts with what was decided here.
The permanent exhibition
Opened on 19 January 2020 on the ground floor, "The Meeting at Wannsee and the Murder of the European Jews" unfolds across nine rooms. It traces the exclusion, definition and classification of Jews that led to the deportations and the genocide, presents the course of the meeting and its file, then the post-war debates about the conference.
The garden and the lake view
The garden, open at the same hours as the exhibition, slopes down to the Großer Wannsee. Since 21 January 2022 it has hosted an open-air exhibition, "20 January 1942. And today?", which questions what the meeting means now.
The entrance drive
From the gate, a hedge-lined drive leads to the entrance facade of the villa. Take time to walk around the building before going in: the garden facade looks straight out over the lake.
The temporary exhibition
Until 23 December 2026, "On the Roof of Himmler's Guesthouse" tells the story of the US Army's presence in Wannsee in 1945.
The Joseph Wulf Library
A free public reference library of more than 75,000 items, open Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm.
Around the lake
The Liebermann Villa (Colomierstraße 3, 14109 Berlin), the painter Max Liebermann's former summer house, is served by the same bus 114; this paying museum opens every day except Tuesday, from 11am to 5pm in October. In summer, Strandbad Wannsee (Wannseebadweg 25, 14129 Berlin) is the city's big lakeside beach; its 2026 bathing season ended on 13 September.
Infos pratiques
Tips
Prices checked in October 2026: admission to the exhibition, the garden and the library is free. The audio guide can be rented at reception (check the fee on ghwk.de), in eight languages including English; the same tour is available free as a web app on your smartphone, so bring headphones. Guided tours and seminars are reserved for groups of 10 or more, by registration: 90 minutes, in English among other languages, free for school pupils, students and trainees. The exhibitions are wheelchair accessible, but some parts of the garden are not. There is a café on site. To continue visiting memorial sites, see the [Sachsenhausen Memorial](/fr/attractions/memorial-de-sachsenhausen), the [Topography of Terror](/fr/attractions/topographie-de-la-terreur) and the [Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe](/fr/attractions/memorial-aux-juifs-assassines-d-europe).
How to get there
Am Großen Wannsee 56-58, 14109 Berlin. S-Bahn S1 (towards Wannsee) or S7 (towards Potsdam Hauptbahnhof) to Wannsee station, then bus 114 towards Heckeshorn to the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz stop. A ticket for fare zones AB is enough. More details in our guide to [getting around Berlin](/fr/articles/transports-berlin), and more ideas that cost nothing in [free Berlin](/fr/articles/activites-gratuites-berlin).
Opening hours
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