Topography of Terror
Documentation centre on the former Gestapo and SS site
Between Niederkirchnerstraße and Wilhelmstraße stood, until 1945, the headquarters of the Gestapo, the SS and the Reich Security Main Office. Today a documentation centre with open-air grounds tells the story of the perpetrators of National Socialism. Admission is free.
The permanent exhibition inside shows in five chapters how the terror apparatus was built, who ran it and what became of the perpetrators after 1945. Outside, a trench runs along the excavated cellar remains of the Gestapo house prison, above it a roughly 200 metre original section of the Berlin Wall, one of the last in the city centre. Together they explain why this strip of Berlin carries two dictatorships.
Plan one to two hours. Texts are in German and English, there are free audio guides and regular special exhibitions. The site is wheelchair accessible.
From our café it is about five minutes: Wilhelmstraße south, then right into Niederkirchnerstraße. Many people come to us after the exhibition because you want to sit down for a while. The first floor is the quieter place for that.
Our tip
Start with the open-air exhibition at the Wall section, then the building. A coffee upstairs with us afterwards is just right.
Opening hours and prices change; current details are on the official website.
Frequently asked
Is admission to the Topography of Terror free?
Yes, the exhibition and the grounds are free. Current opening hours are on topographie.de.
Where is the nearest café to the Topography of Terror?
Typisch Berlin at Wilhelmstraße 42, about five minutes on foot to the north, with seating on two floors, toilets and Wi-Fi.
Also nearby
- right next door
Weltballon (World Balloon)
Tethered balloon, 150 metres above Berlin
The Weltballon is the big white tethered balloon you can see from half of Berlin. It takes off at the corner of Zimmerstraße and Wilhelmstraße, right next to our café.
Read more - approx. 5 min walk
Checkpoint Charlie
The most famous crossing point of the Wall
From 1961 to 1990 Checkpoint Charlie was the crossing point for foreigners, diplomats and Allied soldiers between East and West Berlin. Today a replica of the guard house stands on Friedrichstraße, with the famous sign “You are leaving the American sector”.
Read more - approx. 5 min walk
Trabi Museum
The car of East Germany, up close
The Trabi Museum on Zimmerstraße shows the Trabant in all its versions: saloon, estate, open “Kübel”, racing version and conversions. Plus original adverts, brochures and stories about waiting years for your own car.
Read more - approx. 5 min walk
asisi Panorama “The Wall”
360-degree view of divided Berlin in the 1980s
In a rotunda right at Checkpoint Charlie, artist Yadegar Asisi shows a panorama of divided Berlin on a fictional autumn day in the 1980s. You stand in Kreuzberg and look over the Wall into East Berlin.
Read more
Coffee before, cake after
Typisch Berlin, Wilhelmstraße 42, right at the Weltballon. Daily from 09:00, two floors, Wi-Fi, toilets, terrace. Berliner from €2.20.
