Memorial Wolffenbüttel Prison, Prison memorial in Wolfenbüttel, Germany

The Memorial in the Wolfenbüttel Prison is a documentation and memorial site for the victims of Nazi justice, located inside the Wolfenbüttel correctional facility. It occupies the rooms of the former execution site, a converted locksmith's workshop, where the exhibition "NS-Justiz und Todesstrafe" opened in 1990. The site is managed by the Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten since 2004.

The Wolfenbüttel prison was founded in 1790 as a workhouse for petty offenders, initially housed in a building erected in 1506 as part of the Wolfenbüttel fortress. New structures followed: the Alte Haus in 1820, the Graue Haus in 1873, and from 1882 to 1884 the gate and administration building, the Rotes Haus, an economic building, a hospital and a boiler house. In 1937 the Reich Ministry of Justice ordered a central execution site on the grounds, completed in 1938 in a converted economic building with an added storey and a clock tower; 526 people were guillotined there until March 1945.

The memorial opened in 1990 in the rooms of the former execution site, a converted locksmith's workshop, with the exhibition "NS-Justiz und Todesstrafe". Its focus is the Nazi justice system and the death penalty, and since 2004 the Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten has run it. A memorial plaque in Poitiers commemorates the eleven Wolfenbüttel victims of the Résistance network Réseau Renard.

Visits require advance registration and guided tours are available in German and English for groups of 5 or more. It is advisable to check opening hours beforehand and allow sufficient time to process the difficult subject matter.

The LED lighting of the names creates the silhouette of a guillotine in the center of the wall display. This element connects modern technology with the method of historical executions in a deliberate way.