Kriminalgericht Moabit, Criminal courthouse in Moabit, Germany

Kriminalgericht Moabit is a Baroque Revival courthouse on Turmstraße, built 1902–1906 to plans by Paul Thoemer and Jean Fasquel. Its pale stone facade runs 210 metres along the street, with red-tiled roofs, dormers and two 60-metre towers capped by green copper cupolas. Inside, a pale grey stone staircase hall with carved balustrades and a clock above the central arch leads to 21 courtrooms.

The first Moabit criminal court, designed by Heinrich Herrmann with August Busse, was built on Rathenower Strasse between 1877 and 1881 and handed over on 15 September 1881. Its street wings were badly damaged in the Second World War and cleared in 1953, but the arched rear cell block survived. The present Building A on Turmstrasse was built in 1902–1906 to plans by Paul Thoemer and Jean Fasquel, with 21 courtrooms, and was the first electrically lit building in Berlin.

Above the main gate on Turmstraße, a sandstone sculpture of Justitia stands in the shield; a second Justitia inside the central hall's arch raises two fingers of her right hand in an oath, with the motto "Die Wahrheit weist den Eintretenden den Weg". In courtyard C, the inscription "Die Sonne bringt es an den Tag" is traced to Adelbert von Chamisso's 1827 fairy tale published in the Brothers Grimm collection.

The complex spans over twelve inner courtyards and 17 staircases, so follow the marked entrances to reach the courtrooms. Not all areas are open to the public. The address is Turmstraße 91; the Moabit remand prison adjoins the site at Alt-Moabit 12a.

The two towers rise 60 metres, and the street front along Turmstraße runs 210 metres. In courtyard C an inscription reads "Die Sonne bringt es an den Tag", probably after Adelbert von Chamisso's 1827 fairy tale published in the Brothers Grimm collection; no exact explanation of it has been found.