Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne, Holocaust memorial and museum in Erfurt, Germany

Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne occupies the former administration building of J. A. Topf und Söhne in Erfurt, a company that supplied crematoria ovens and ventilation systems for gas chambers to the SS from 1941. The permanent exhibition "Techniker der 'Endlösung'" is housed in the former drafting room on the third floor, showing correspondence, construction drawings, offers and shipping notices. The building was converted in 2009/2010, keeping its gutted state; outside stand a model of the factory complex and a memorial stone.

J. A. Topf und Söhne was founded in 1878 in Erfurt. From 1941 the company supplied the SS with crematorium ovens and ventilation equipment for gas chambers. After the Second World War it continued as a state-owned enterprise in the GDR and went bankrupt in 1994. The city agreed in 2008 to rent rooms in the former administration building, and the memorial opened there on 27 January 2011.

The place shows how workers and companies made choices that supported the camp system. Visitors see documents, photographs, and technical drawings from that time, revealing how daily work and business became linked to crimes.

The permanent exhibition is on the third floor in the former drawing office; special exhibitions are on the second floor, where a conference room is available for group discussions after guided tours. The building was converted in 2009/2010, keeping the gutted state of the rooms. Outside, look for the lettering "Stets gern für Sie beschäftigt, …" on the facade, a model of the factory complex and a memorial stone.

The building preserves the actual work spaces where engineers designed the machines that were later used in the camps. These physical rooms make the link between everyday office work and systematic crime especially clear.