Documentation Centre NS Forced Labour Berlin-Schöneweide

The camp site, today consisting of the Documentation Center and the barracks adjoining it to the east, lay forgotten and overgrown in the urban space for decades. The special feature of this camp was and is its location in the middle of a residential area.
With a restrained design, the entire site became visible as a forced labor camp while retaining the historical layers of the post-war period.

The water-bound pavement over the entire area refers to earlier sandy areas. Access to the site is through a generous gate. It opens up the view of the camp and the defining west-east axis, which points to the continuation of the camp to the east. The exterior space makes the historic camp architecture and the likewise historic urban context with church, high school and residential development visible.
The main path was deliberately raised from the site as a new layer with steel edging and sealed in a similar materiality to the adjacent areas. Equipment elements were largely omitted. Only the lighting of the path, the guidance system and the unobtrusively designed entrance situation guide the visitor across the exhibition grounds.