Menschenrechtszentrum

The association for human rights Menschenrechtszentrum Cottbus e.V. has been maintaining the memorial site Zuchthaus Cottbus on the former prison site on BautzenerStraße 140 since 4 September 2012.

The former ‘Königliche-Zentralgefängnis Cottbus’ (Royal Central Prison Cottbus) was commissioned in 1860 and served as a prison over the course of five historical periods: the imperial era, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, the GDR and, subsequent to the peaceful revolution, until 2002. Menschenrechtszentrum Cottbus e.V. has been the owner of the site since May 2011. The association was established in October 2007 following a meeting of inmates at the former prison, which had been organised by the former political prisoner and CDU politician Dieter Dombrowski. Most members of the association had been imprisoned in the Zuchthaus Cottbus as political prisoners under the GDR regime. The association’s main objective is to remember and remind. The vivid illustration of former injustice aims at raising young people’s awareness for the values of a liberal-democratic and constitutional society.

Funds from the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Federal State of Brandenburg, the City of Cottbus and private donors have enabled the renovation of the Hafthaus 1 cell block and of parts of the gatehouse. The reconstruction of cells provides visitors with an insight into the conditions innocent people were subjected to during their imprisonment in the Zuchthaus Cottbus.

Accessibility: Free access to the exhibition rooms on the ground floor; barrier-free access to the first and second floors via lift.

Bautzener Straße 140
03050 Cottbus

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