in detail
The Düsseldorf Memorial Site and its permanent exhibition "Persecution and Resistance in Düsseldorf 1933-1945" opened in 1987 in the town hall. This location was chosen because the police headquarters resided there until the beginning of 1934. There are, however, practically no remains of this function of the building. A memorial plaque at the entrance commemorates the people who were mistreated here at the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship.
The air-raid shelter rooms, located in the basement, are still in their original condition. Their historic authenticity provides an unusual glimpse into the past. Original inscriptions, markings, air locks and pumps indicate the purpose of the basement rooms which, like the rooms on the main floor, were used by the military district command (Wehrbezirkskommando) from 1934 to 1945, after the police moved its headquarters to the Kavallerieplatz (now Jürgensplatz). The location of the Düsseldorf Memorial Site is significant in two ways. First, the police department which was housed in this building became an instrument of terror under the NSDAP. Secondly, the building itself recalls the consequences of the NSDAP`s reign, namely the war, and thus also focusses on the suffering of the civilian population. The permanent exhibition "Persecution and Resistance in Düsseldorf 1933-1945", which tells of the fate of groups and individuals who were persecuted in Düsseldorf, reveals an important distinction: within the small framework of the terror system, those persecuted for political or religious reasons had a choice to resist or to conform; those who were persecuted based on racist ideology had no chance to conform. This difference is a central theme of the exhibition.
The Düsseldorf Memorial Museum is dedicated to documenting and presenting historical topics of National Socialism in terms of their impact on the local area and their significance for present day political culture. Consequently, its work is relevant to discussions and activities in society concerning rightwing extremism, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia.
1933-1934
The police headquarters are located in the town hall.
1934-1945
Rooms are used by the military district command (Wehrbezirkskommando); the basement is reconstructed as an air-raid shelter.
1985
The city of Düsseldorf decides to establish a memorial museum in the town hall on Mühlenstrasse.
1987
Opening of the exhibition "Persecution and Resistance in Düsseldorf 1933-1945".
Düsseldorf, 1992, Ilsabe Schülke, Düsseldorf Memorial Museum.
Düsseldorf, 1988, Sculpture in the former air-raid shelter by Thomas Duttenhöfer, Düsseldorf Memorial Museum.
