Gedenkstätte Moritzplatz Magdeburg, Political imprisonment memorial in Magdeburg, Germany
The Moritzplatz Memorial occupies a two-storey brick building erected in 1876 as the Royal Prussian District Court of Magdeburg-Neustadt, in a plain round-arch style with two side risers and a narrow tower-like central riser on the street facade. A remand prison was built at the same time on the courtyard side. The preserved cell wing, exercise cells and MfS-era additions such as the watchtower and raised walls are used in educational work.
The building was erected in 1876 as the Royal Prussian district court of Magdeburg-Neustadt, with a remand prison added on the courtyard side. From 1940 it served only as a prison; from 1957 to 1989 it was the Stasi remand prison for the Magdeburg district, with 25 cells. A permanent exhibition has occupied the house since January 2012.
The building carries the memory of how the political system used the courts and prison to silence opposition, something visitors can sense when walking through the cells and interrogation rooms. This role shaped how people in the city experienced fear and control during those decades.
The site sits in central Magdeburg and is easy to reach on foot or by public transport. The interior is partly accessible for people with mobility issues, though some areas have limitations due to the building's structure.
The permanent exhibition opened in January 2012 under the title "Grundsätzlich kann von jedem Beschuldigten ein Geständnis erlangt werden" — a sentence from the interrogation practice itself. It fills twelve rooms: five in the cell wing cover the prison up to its takeover by the Stasi, seven in the front building show MfS repression, including an interrogation room refitted with original furniture, and the autumn of 1989 in Magdeburg.
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