The Topography of Terror (Topographie des Terrors) stands on the site where, from 1933 to 1945, the headquarters of Nazi terror were located: the Gestapo, the SS leadership and, from 1939, the Reich Security Main Office, on Prinz-Albrecht-Straße and Wilhelmstraße. The documentation centre, opened in May 2010 in a grey pavilion with glazed façades, shows how these agencies organised the regime's persecution and crimes across Europe. Admission is free, every day from 10am to 8pm, and along Niederkirchnerstraße a section of the Berlin Wall about 200 metres long still stands. Allow two hours for the permanent exhibition and the outdoor tour.
Highlights
The permanent exhibition
"Topography of Terror. Gestapo, SS and Reich Security Main Office on Wilhelmstraße and Prinz-Albrecht-Straße" follows, through photographs and documents, the history of the institutions based here, their leaders, their victims and what became of the perpetrators after 1945. A free audio guide is available in 22 languages.
The Wall and the outdoor exhibition
The section of the Berlin Wall runs along Niederkirchnerstraße, above the remains of cellars uncovered during excavations. At its foot, the outdoor exhibition "Berlin 1933-1945. Between Propaganda and Terror" traces life in the capital under Nazism.
The site tour
Fifteen marked stations complement the indoor exhibition and explain what stood on this ground, which was cleared after the war and then left as wasteland for a long time. A free audio guide, in German and English, goes with this tour.
The temporary exhibition
Until 31 January 2027, the exhibition "The Holocaust – What Did the Germans Know?" (Der Holocaust – Was wussten die Deutschen?) uses some 300 objects from 95 archives and collections to show what was known in the Reich about the genocide of the Jews of Europe and the other mass crimes.
Infos pratiques
Tips
Everything is free, the exhibition and the audio guide alike, with no booking needed for an individual visit. Lockers for bags are available in the foyer, and photos for private use are allowed. The centre's cafeteria is handy for a break, but you cannot eat your own food there. The visit combines easily on foot with [Checkpoint Charlie](/fr/attractions/checkpoint-charlie), about 10 minutes away, and with [Potsdamer Platz](/fr/attractions/potsdamer-platz); the [Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe](/fr/attractions/memorial-aux-juifs-assassines-d-europe) is about twenty minutes to the north.
How to get there
Niederkirchnerstraße 8, 10963 Berlin. S-Bahn Anhalter Bahnhof or Potsdamer Platz; U-Bahn Potsdamer Platz (U2) or Kochstraße/Checkpoint Charlie (U6). There is no parking on site. The centre is next to the Martin-Gropius-Bau, opposite the Berlin House of Representatives.
Opening hours
Nearby
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