Abstract:
Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Genslerstr. 66: A complex of buildings hidden behind grey walls topped with barbed wire and divided by watchtowers, in the midst of a residential area. From 1945 until the 1950s, this location served as a detention camp for the Russian occupying force. Since 1949, the "Ministerium für Staatssicherheit" (MfS) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) assumed command of the facility for use as its principal remand prison.
Today, the complex houses as a memorial site, chronicling prison conditions, political persecution and the legal system in the former GDR and under Soviet occupation. The following paper examines two interacting components of this site. First, I will examine the memorial site itself — its intention as a site of historical interest as well as the impact of its psychological architecture on visitors since the Reunification. Especially the differentiation in former victims and offenders and how each group is treated accordingly will be discussed. Secondly, I will analyse the expectations, experiences and impressions of visitors, which I collected in interviews and participant observations. In this context special attention will be paid to the role of the media in generating interest in such sites and their influence on the perception of the site by visitors.
I will integrate my research in the field of "Dark Tourism" which comprises diverse forms of touristic interest in sites of death and human misery and discusses their impact.

Keywords: GDR, Memorial site Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Commemoration, Dark Tourism, Perpet-rator/Offender versus Victim, "Das Leben der Anderen"

Leseprobe (pdf)