Wouter Jaspers

“It is difficult to imagine a street with more history than Niederkirchnerstrasse. Formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, it was one of the most feared addresses in Europe and synonymous with the evil of the Third Reich. The street houses what was once Gestapo headquarters, with its “house prison” and the Reich Security Main Office. Right next door is the stately Martin-Gropius-Bau, one of Berlin’s late-19th-century architectural jewels. Across the street one finds a former Prussian parliamentary chamber. One of the few remaining segments of the Berlin Wall also stands here.

Last month, precisely 65 years after the German surrender in World War II, Berlin inaugurated Topography of Terror on the very site where the Third Reich’s greatest crimes were planned. More than 20 years in the making, this memorial and documentation center is the latest step in Vergangenheitsbewältigung—Germany’s cumbersome word for coming to terms with the Nazi past.”

I visited the new Topographie 2 weeks ago while doing some fieldwork for my new album and i was impressed by the stories and history of the site. I don’t like being a tourist in my own city, but this is definatly a must-see!