
The Soviet Intelligence Prison Leistikowstraße
There are few detention facilities as authentically preserved as the former Soviet pre-trial prison on Leistikowstraße. While communal cells and sanitary areas on the upper floors reflect daily prison life in the 1970s, the bare basement cells with simple wooden bunks illustrate the harsh and deprived conditions of the post-war period. Numerous prisoner inscriptions on the walls testify to isolation, despair, and the struggle for self-assertion.
The extensive permanent exhibition uses historical photographs, rare original objects, and modern media stations to encourage engagement with the history of the prison in the context of the Cold War. Fifty biographies represent the diverse range of prisoners once held here: Nazi perpetrators, actual and alleged spies, Soviet deserters, and completely uninvolved civilians.
This live tour offers insight into a uniquely preserved site of remembrance and tells the stories of the fates connected to it.