Spandau Prison. 1877–1987

“And where exactly was Rudolf Hess imprisoned here?” – a frequently asked question at Spandau Citadel. The answer: nowhere.

The so-called war criminal prison was located in Spandau's Wilhelmstadt district. In 1877, construction work began there on a new ‘central fortress prison,’ which was used from 1881 onwards as a detention centre for soldiers who had committed crimes and prisoners of war. After a spectacular liberation operation during the November Revolution of 1918, the building, originally designed for 300 prisoners, was used for civil prosecution until 1933. After the Reichstag fire, the National Socialist government used the prison as another place of so-called ‘preventive protective custody’. Until 1945, numerous political prisoners were incarcerated here, many of whom were sentenced to death.

Internationally, the prison is best known as ‘Spandau Prison’ – particularly because of the seven war criminals convicted in Nuremberg who were imprisoned there. The building was demolished in 1987.

The exhibition traces the complete history of the prison on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.