Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand

The German Resistance Memorial Center in the Bendlerblock does not charge admission for either the permanent or the special exhibition. It stands at the place where the attempted coup of July 20, 1944, was planned and ended on the same night - and it shows the breadth of resistance against National Socialism.

A historical site on Stauffenbergstraße, free admission

There are few places in Berlin where history is as directly tied to a building as it is here. The German Resistance Memorial Center is located in the Bendlerblock on Stauffenbergstraße, which today also houses the Federal Ministry of Defense. It is precisely the place where the attempted coup of July 20, 1944, was prepared and met its end on the same night. The fact that admission is free is not a minor detail, but a fundamental principle: neither for the permanent exhibition nor for the special exhibition is an entrance fee charged. Those walking along Stauffenbergstraße can see the inscription from afar on the bright gable wall, bilingual as “Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand” and “German Resistance Memorial Center”. The inner courtyard with the memorial site is part of the location and can also be visited. For an afternoon in Tiergarten, this is one of the most concentrated and at the same time most affordable attractions in the entire city. The fact that a place of such historical significance charges no admission is by no means the norm in Berlin – many of the major institutions now demand double-digit amounts.

Resistance in its full breadth, far beyond July 20th

The permanent exhibition is titled “Resistance against National Socialism” and deliberately goes beyond what the place is famous for. It shows, beyond the military conspiracy of July 20th, the entire spectrum of those who resisted, documenting it at the historical site itself. In addition, there is always a special exhibition, most recently a work on resistance in the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp under the title from a prisoner’s statement: “we resisted as best we could”. Those who wish to be guided will find regular public tours of the permanent exhibition; individual curator-led tours are explicitly free of charge. A practical planning tip: If you want to seriously experience the exhibition, you should plan at least two hours, as the amount of material is considerable and the reading effort accordingly high. For groups, advance registration is recommended. If you want to see something afterwards, it’s not far: the Kulturforum with its buildings is a few minutes away, and the path there leads along the Landwehrkanal.