in detail
‘Alter Schlachthof’ Memorial Centre
The municipal abattoir at 23 Rather Strasse opened for business in 1899 and remained in operation until 2002. Thereafter the site became blighted, a small memorial plaque the only reminder of the criminal acts committed here between 1941 and 1944.
At the direction of the Gestapo, some 6,000 Jewish men, women and children from across the Düsseldorf administrative district were forced to report for deportation on a total of seven transports. They were registered, their property was looted and after spending the night in the cattle market hall they were deported from the nearby freight terminal to ghettos in occupied eastern Europe: Łódź, Minsk, Riga, Izbica and Theresienstadt (now known as Terezín). Few survived the Holocaust.
In February 2016 the new Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences campus opened on the site of the former abattoir. Accorded conservation status, the former cattle market hall accommodates the Campus IT department and the University library. What was once the cattle market reception area is now the ‘Alter Schlachthof’ Memorial Centre, designed and executed by University staff and students.
The permanent exhibition documents the crimes committed and reconstructs the life stories, all in this historic theatre. The digital archive showcases numerous historical documents as well as biographical details and photographs both of the victims, perpetrators and profiteers. We also reach out to the few remaining Holocaust survivors and present discussions on the aftermath of the Nazi dictatorship.
The exhibition is complemented by an historico-political educational syllabus, developed in conjunction with the University’s Centre for Research in Right-wing Extremism/Neonazism (Forschungsschwerpunkt Rechtsextremismus/Neonazismus). It is aimed at university students, teenagers and multiplicators as well as those interested members of the general public. Guided tours, workshops, readings and lectures provide the narrative for this historic site and the people of the region who were deported to ghettos and extermination camps. Also addressed are issues such as racism, antisemitism, right-wing extremism, social exclusion and the treatment of minorities.
1899
The municipal abattoir and stockyard at 23 Rather Straße in the Derendorf suburb of Düsseldorf opens for business
1934
The cattle market hall is extended
1941/42
1,003 Jewish men, women and children are deported to the Ghetto in Łódź (renamed Litzmannstadt by the Nazis). More deportations follow to ghettos in Minsk (10.11.1941), Riga (11.12.1941), Izbica (22.4.1942) and Theresienstadt (today known as Terezín) (22./25.7.1942)
1943-45
Despite the destruction of numerous buildings during bombing campaigns, the abattoir continues to operate
1943
The abattoir is used on at least one occasion as a temporary storage facility for Jewish looted property
1944
Deportation of some 250 Jewish spouses of “mixed race marriages” (18.9.1944)
Post 1945
The municipal abattoir is reconstructed and extended
1986
A memorial plaque is affixed to the abattoir’s exterior wall on Rather Straße
1990s
The abattoir is privatised
1999
The cattle market hall is granted conservation status
2002
The abattoir goes into liquidation and is closed down
2007
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Estates Department (BLB) is awarded the contract for the construction of a new campus for Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences
2012
Building of the new Derendorf campus commences. First “Round table” meeting. Those present include representatives from the University of Applied Sciences, the students’ union, the Düsseldorf Jewish Community, the Regional Association of Jewish Communities in North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Düsseldorf, the Memorial and Education Centre, the District Council, the Estates Department and architects Nickl & Partner. The “Round table” is involved in all subsequent developments pertaining to the project
2016
Opening of the Derendorf Campus and ‘Alter Schlachthof’ Memorial Centre (February 2016)
