Since 2008 Leistikowstraße Memorial, Potsdam

Establishment and development   

The Leistikowstraße Memorial Potsdam was established on December 5, 2008, initially as an independent foundation administered in trust by the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation. The founder was the Evangelisch-Kirchliche-Hilfsverein (EKH), which contributed the building used by the Soviet military secret service after 1945 and the visitor center completed in 2008 to the new foundation as the owner. Since June 30, 2023, the memorial has been fully part of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation, a foundation under public law funded by the state of Brandenburg and the federal government. The Leistikowstraße Memorial has one staff position for the management, two full-time positions for memorial site education and half an administrative position. 
 

Tasks and aims

The memorial sees itself as a museum of contemporary history with special educational tasks. Its diverse activities are based on research as well as collecting and preserving historical evidence on the history of the Soviet remand prison. In permanent and special exhibitions, events and with a broad educational program, the memorial provides information about the historical site and the fates of those imprisoned there. The range of tasks is complemented by a humanitarian concern: the care and support of former prisoners and their relatives.  

Every year on August 15 - the anniversary of the establishment of the prison by the Soviet secret service in 1945 - the memorial invites visitors to a commemorative event with a wreath-laying ceremony. The innocent prisoners who suffered at this site between 1945 and 1991 will be remembered. At the same time, the memorial commemorates the beginning of civic engagement to preserve the building after the last military units left on August 15, 1994.
 

Support  

The memorial is supported by the dedicated work of the Förderverein Gedenkstätte Leistikowstraße e.V., with whose financial help it has so far been possible to realize a bronze model of “Military Town No. 7” and the restoration of important exhibits.