denk.mal

Hannoverscher Bahnhof

Commemorative plaque at "denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof"

At denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof,

20 plaques commemorate the names of more than 8,000 Jews and Sinti who were deported from Hamburg between 1940 and 1945. The "Info Pavilion" with an exhibition is located at Lohseplatz. From 2026, a documentation centre developed by the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres will embed the fate of the deportees within the wider history of National Socialist persecution.

 

Latest News

Letter of Solidarity

Dear survivors of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp and relatives of those persecuted under National Socialism, dear friends, Since last Saturday (Oct 7, 2023), the world has been looking at Israel…

read more

Report from the commemorative event, "Meeting Erika," in memory of the deceased contemporary witness Erika Estis

On September 26, 2023, the Jewish Girls’ School Memorial and Educational Site in cooperation with the Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg and the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and…

read more

Barbara Maass’ Visit to the denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof Memorial Site

In mid-September, the denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof team welcomed Barbara Maass from Montréal to the memorial site in HafenCity. She is the granddaughter of Adolf and Käthe Maass, who were both…

read more

"Not Just a Memorial"

From 1 September to 31 October 2023, the photo installation ‘Not Just a Memorial’ will feature survivors and descendants at the ‘denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof’ memorial site.

read more

Decision made in competition for new ‘denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof’ documentation centre

The new architectural design was presented by Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media, at a press conference on 31 March 2023.

read more

Events (in german)

  • Thursday, December 14, 2023
  • 19:00–20:30

Ökumenisches Forum HafenCity, Shanghaiallee 12, 20457 Hamburg

„Mit so etwas wollen die Menschen heute nichts mehr zu tun haben“

Nachwirkungen des Nationalsozialismus in der norddeutschen Provinz. In seinem Roman "Der Klang der Blauen Gitarre" beleuchtet Bill Boehart die Nachwirkungen des Nationalsozialismus in der… Mehr Informationen

  • Sunday, January 21, 2024
  • 14:00–15:30

denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof, Lohseplatz, 20457 Hamburg

Deportationen von Hamburger Jüdinnen und Juden nach Theresienstadt

Theresienstadt wurde von den Nationalsozialisten zwischen 1941 und 1945 als Ghetto genutzt. Der Ruf als „Musterghetto“ hält bis heute an. Die Lebensbedingungen waren aber katastrophal. Viele Menschen… Mehr Informationen

Veranstaltungskalender
Facade of the former "Hannoverscher Bahnhof"

During the Nazi era,

the Hannoverscher Bahnhof took on a whole new meaning. Between 1940 and 1945 more than 8,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma originally from Hamburg and northern Germany were deported from the city, in particular via the former Hannoverscher Bahnhof railway station. They were sent to ghettos and to concentration and extermination camps in German-occupied regions: Belzec, Litzmannstadt/Lodz, Minsk, Riga, Auschwitz and Theresienstadt. Only very few survived. Responsibility for these deportations fell to Hamburg’s local authorities and administrative bodies as well as to state organisations at Reich level. The vast majority of German society either looked idly on or actively supported these crimes.

The Hannoverscher Bahnhof was severely damaged during the Second World War and, after 1945, it was largely forgotten about. What parts of the building complex remained were razed to the ground in 1955 and 1981. As Hamburg’s HafenCity district began to emerge, the general public once again became aware of the site in the early 2000s. Associations of former victims of Nazi persecution in particular have campaigned actively to this day for a memorial that befits the memory of the victims.

Name boards at the "denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof"

In 2017 the memorial site

designated as the ‘denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof’ was officially inaugurated in the area where Platform 2 of the Hannoverscher Bahnhof had once stood. Here 20 plaques with the names of the deported commemorate the victims of Nazi crimes. The memorial ensemble is complemented by the Fuge, or ‘swathe’, as a striking design feature that cuts deep into landscape of the Park as a symbolic extension of the former railway tracks, and by the redesign of the Lohseplatz itself, which was once the forecourt of the railway station.

In 2026 a documentation centre in the immediate vicinity will embed the fate of the deported into the history of Nazi persecution. It will showcase not only the routes taken by the persecuted and the destinations of their deportations, but also the scope of action of the majority society and the deeds committed by those involved in the crimes. It will also show the fate of those 1,000 or so people persecuted mostly on political grounds who were forced into the Wehrmacht’s Bewährungsbataillon 999 [probation troop] and deployed into military service from the Hannoverscher Bahnhof. The history and post-history of the persecution will be correlated with current perspectives. Since November 2018 a six-member team headed up by Dr Oliver von Wrochem at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial has been busy working on the content for the permanent exhibition planned at the site.

Guided tour at "denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof"

The memorial site is freely accessible to all visitors.

Information Pavilion opening hours:

April – October
Monday – Sunday, 12 noon – 6 pm
Address: Lohlseplatz, northern Lohsepark at HafenCity, 20457 Hamburg

Between November and March the Information Pavilion is accessible to visitors by prior arrangement. Simply email: juliane.podlaha@gedenkstaetten.hamburg.de (phone: +49 (0)40-428 131 566). 

Admission is free.

Between April and October public guided tours are held at 6 pm at the Memorial Site at Lohsepark on the last Wednesday of every month. Meeting point: denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof Information Pavilion, Lohseplatz, HafenCity, 20457 Hamburg.

School classes and other groups can book a tour at any time, subject to a fee. Museumsdienst Hamburg, phone: +49 (0)40 428 131 0. The guided tour is available in English, in German and in Sign Language.

Barrier-free access:

The Memorial Site and the Information Pavilion offer barrier-free access for wheelchair users.

Contact for more detailed questions about the Memorial Site and the planned documentation centre: Dr Oliver von Wrochem, Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres.

(Last) Signs of Life

At some destinations of deportations, those who were persecuted were allowed to send and receive postcards. Despite strict conditions and censorship, these postcards give us an insight into the emotions and feelings of those who were deported from Hamburg: their hopes, fears, worries, homesickness, and longing for friends and relatives.

The Hamburg State Archive holds over 350 postcards that reached Hamburg from different ghettos and concentration camps. A few of them were unable to be delivered, often due to the fact that the intended recipients had already been themselves deported. A few postcards were never sent from the ghettos or concentration camps and stayed in the post offices. Amongst them were 200 cards addressed to Hamburg from the Litzmannstadt ghetto. They can be found today in the Archive in Łódź, Poland.

Survivors and descendants at the ‘Hannoverscher Bahnhof Memorial’

At the ‘Hannoverscher Bahnhof Memorial’, 20 plaques commemorate the names of more than 8,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma deported from Hamburg and northern Germany between 1940 and 1945. Behind each name is a story. The Nazi persecutions and deportations continue to impact family histories and people’s lives to this day.

The photographic installation ‘Not just a memorial’ at the remembrance site focuses on a former victim of Nazi persecution and seven descendants of deportees. They talk about what the ‘Hannoverscher Bahnhof Memorial’ means to them.

We are most grateful to the persons portrayed here for agreeing to participate in the project and their willingness to tell their stories.