Heerstraße 205, Heritage monument in Nordstadt, Bonn, Germany.
The Oscar-Romero-Haus at Heerstraße 205 is a self-managed residential and project house on the edge of Bonn's Nordstadt. The building was constructed in 1869 as a prison and later served as a women's prison from 1894 to 1930. Today it houses two shared flats on the upper floors and offices of the Informationsstelle Lateinamerika and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Bibliothek on the ground floor.
Built in 1869 as a cantonal prison at what was then Viktoriastraße 27, the house served as a women's prison from 1894 to 1930. In 1933 the SS took over the building and set up a prison in the cellar, where the communist Jupp Messinger was tortured to death on 11 July 1933. Air-raid shelter rooms were added in 1938; from 1973 the student chaplain Martin Huthmann renovated and occupied the house with students, and in 1982 the newly founded Förderkreis Oscar-Romero-Haus e. V. bought it.
The house takes its name from Óscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, shot at the altar in 1980 by a death squad of the Salvadoran military dictatorship for his advocacy for the poor. The name was adopted after the 1973 renovation and the founding of the Förderverein in 1982. Since 2003 the associated circle awards the Oscar-Romero-Preis, endowed with €1000, to individuals and initiatives from the Cologne-Bonn area.
The house is located near Bonn's main railway station, making it easily accessible by public transportation. Visitors can explore the surrounding area on foot and discover the neighborhood's architecture and streets.
The house has hosted the Oscar-Romero-Preis since 2003, awarded by the Förderkreis to individuals and groups from the Cologne-Bonn area; the prize is endowed with €1000. Early winners were journalist Siegfried Pater (2003) and the Sozialistische Selbsthilfe Mülheim (2006).
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