Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Torhaus Gera

Memorial and congress place
in the Torhaus

of the political detention centre
1933 - 1945 / 1945 - 1989

History

History

The prison located at the Amthordurchgang was a detention centre used in different historical eras. From 1933 to 1989 the detention center
exclusively incarcerated political prisoners. Due to its past the place is mainly associated with the violent repression of political opponents
by the dictatorial regimes of the 20th Century.

1876 - 1933

The Gera city chronicle first verifies the existence of a detention centre at the Amthordurchgang in 1876: A citizen of Gera complained about a detention centre supposedly being built directly in downtown.

The detention centre was under the control of to the princely district court Gera, the principality's Reuss of younger line. At this time the detention centre included 25 cells and it was operated like a family-owned business. The three prison guards stayed overnight at the detention centre and their wives would take care of laundry and preparing the meals.

A structural addition was built in 1896. By adding another floor level onto the already existing building the number of prison cells was doubled to a total of 50. During the same period the regional court building was built in Gera. The detention centre was used for investigative custody as well as a court prison in which criminals of all kind were detained and several death penalties executed.