The Memorial premises on Nicolaiplatz has an eventful history. In 1790, the city of Brandenburg built a poorhouse on an open space in front of the city gates for impoverished citizens as well as invalid soldiers and their families.
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Beginning in 1810, the Brandenburg poorhouse also housed prisoners from the overcrowded prison in Spandau. The decision to use the site as a permanent prison was made in 1820. It was for this purpose that the existing buildings were renovated and the entire premises was enclosed with a wall. This increased the site’s capacity to about 600 men. The prisoners were exclusively male.
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The Brandenburg concentration camp was established on the empty prison grounds in May 1933 upon the request of the local police administration. This was due to mass arrests of political opponents by the Nazis, who had just come to power. Along with the concentration camp in Oranienburg, which had existed since March 1933, Brandenburg qualified as a state concentration camp beginning in October 1933. The camp’s official director was the director of the police academy, who however ceded on-site command to the SS.
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Beginning in early December 1939, a large section of the prison complex in the city center was converted into a euthanasia killing facility in the context of what was called the T4 operation. A gas chamber was installed in the former prison barn. The euthanasia facility in Brandenburg an der Havel was the only one of six T4 killing facilities that was built in an empty prison rather than in a hospital. In order to conceal the facility’s purpose, it was called the “Brandenburg an der Havel State Nursing Home.” Between February and October 1940, killing facility staff murdered over 9,000 patients from northern and central Germany with poison gas.
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The Memorial’s permanent exhibition, which opened in August 2012, addresses the murder of more than 9,000 sick and disabled persons from psychiatric hospitals in northern and central Germany, including Berlin.
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News
The Foundation has fallen victim to a ransomware attack
11. August 2026
The Brandenburg Memorials Foundation has fallen victim to a so-called ransomware attack. The attackers gained access to the internal IT systems and encrypted parts of the IT systems and data using specialised software. The incident was detected on 5 August 2026. Both the memorial sites at all seven locations and the head office have been affected. more
The 2G rule will apply in all of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation facilities of as of November 24
20. December 2021
According to the updated and stricter Brandenburg Corona Ordinance, which was issued today, the 2G rule will apply in all of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation facilities of as of tomorrow (November 24). more
Memorial to the Victims of Euthanasia Murders
Nicolaiplatz 28/30
14770 Brandenburg an der Havel
Telephone: +49 (0)3381 7935-112
+49 (0)3381 7935-113
brandenburgastiftung-bgode
Opening hours
Thursdays and Fridays: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and on holidays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission to the permanent exhibtion is free
Please note our current Corona rules before your visit.
DONATION ACCOUNT
Account holder: Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten
IBAN: DE75 1207 0024 0633 4007 02
BIC: DEUTDEDB160
Intended use: Euthanasia memorial
With the financial assistance of
