Barnimstrasse women's prison

In 1864, a new debtors' prison was built in Berlin's royal city, north-east of today's Alexanderplatz, under the direction of architects Carl Johann Christian Zimmermann and . After Prussia abolished imprisonment for debtors in May 1868, it was converted and extended to become the Royal Prussian Women's Prison. In the spring of 1910, the prison was expanded with some reconstruction of the internal structure that was completed by November 1913. The buildings survived the bombing raids and hostilities at the end of the World War II with only minor damage. However, due to the work opportunities in a neighboring industrial laundry, a new women's prison was built in Köpenick in 1974. The buildings on Barnimstrasse were subsequently demolished. The site was initially used as a sports ground with a gymnasium, concrete floor and jumping pit, and in the 1990s a traffic education facility was established. ==Detention==

Monarchy and Weimar Republic During the monarchy, the prison was primarily occupied by petty criminals, including many prostitutes which were in the majority by 1933. and 1915-1916 for giving an anti-war speech. Inside the prison buildings, it was compulsory to wear institutional clothing, which consisted of a clean blue wash dress with a white and blue neckerchief and blue knitted wool stockings with a red stripe. For cooler days there was a blue jacket with the old sleeve cut. The women responsible for preparing food had to cover their hair with a white cloth. Anyone who was sentenced to more than six months in prison was placed in a three-tier system, the different levels of which gave the prisoners some advantages over the other women, including that the lights were allowed to stay on longer in the cell and a second book from the prison library was also allowed per week. With good behavior, prisoners could work their way up. Particular consideration was given to imprisoned mothers with children: they lived with their children in a mother's cell that contained toys and flowers were also allowed to be placed here. A doctor came once a day to check on everything. National Socialism During the period of Nazism, the prison served as a Gestapo remand prison and as a stopover between the Plötzensee Prison execution site and other prisons and camps. Pregnant women gave birth here before being executed. Hans Coppi Jr. and Anita Leocádia Prestes, for example, were born here. Over 300 women of the resistance started their final journey from here, including: :: They include women from well-known resistance groups and movements: • The resistance groups of the Red Orchestra included: Käte Voelkner, Frida Wesolek, Käthe Tucholla, Maria Terwiel, Rose Schlösinger, Oda Schottmüller, Klara Schabbel, Annie Krauss, Ingeborg Kummerow, Krystana Iwanowa Janewa, Katharina Fellendorf, Else Imme, Ursula Goetze, Cato Bontjes van Beek, Erika von Brockdorff, Eva-Maria Buch, as well as Hilde Coppi and Liane Berkowitz, who were both pregnant at the time of their arrest. • The Berlin workers' resistance included: Judith Auer, Marianne Baum, Gerda Boenke, Anna Ebermann, Charlotte Eisenblätter, Charlotte Garske, Auguste Haase, Elli Hatschek, Hella Hirsch, Hildegard Jadamowitz, Marianne Joachim, Sala Kochmann, Krista Lavíčková, Hildegard Loewy, Hildegard Margis, Hanni Meyer, Galina Romanova, Elfriede Tygör, Elli Voigt, Irene Walter, Suzanne Wesse and others • In connection with the assassination attempt on Hitler known as the 20 July plot: Elisabeth Charlotte Gloeden and her mother Elisabeth Kuznitzky • Members of the Resistance: Johanna Kirchner, Vera Obolensky, Ruth Oesterreich, Irene Wosikowski • The underground Jehovah's Witnesses () included: Helene Gotthold, Klara Stoffels, Auguste Hetkamp • In connection with the Polish intelligence department "Stragan": Pelagia Scheffczyk, Gertruda Świerczek ==Post war period==

In the post-war years, black market transactions and theft of food or other everyday items or for example theft of ration cards were the most common reasons for imprisonment. and "flight from the republic", "attempted flight" and "preparing for flight" were added. In the second-half of the 1960's, some prisoners were subject to compulsory labour re-education. In the early 1960's with prison inmate numbers declining and concomitant lack of maintenance that resulted in a large rat infestation, plans were made to relocate it. In 1974, it was finally closed. ==Memorials==

A memorial cell for Rosa Luxemburg was set up in the prison as early as 1950. After the buildings were demolished, a small memorial was erected in front of a neighboring school in Weinstraße in 1977. A plaque on the stele, reminiscent of prison bars, reads: ::"Here stood the women's prison where Rosa Luxemburg was imprisoned for her revolutionary beliefs." The resistance fighters were not commemorated at this point during the GDR era. Therefore, a temporary memorial plaque was installed in March 1994, the text of which read: ::"Many resistance fighters against National Socialism were imprisoned in the Barnimstrasse women's prison between 1933 and 1945. For more than three hundred women, this was the last stop before their execution in Plötzensee. They were murdered because they distributed leaflets, helped those being persecuted, listened to foreign broadcasters, expressed doubts about the “final victory” or committed minor crimes for which the Nazi judiciary sentenced them to death as “public pests”. The building continued to be used as a women's prison after 1945 and was demolished in 1974." After this plaque was vandalized, another memorial plaque was unveiled in 1996 with the following text: ::"The Barnimstrasse women's prison stood on this site until 1974. Between 1933 and 1945, it was the last stop for more than 300 female resistance fighters against National Socialism before their execution in Plötzensee." Several resolutions were passed by the person responsible in the district administration, the first in 1993, to redesign the memorial, but these have not yet to been implemented. However, an art competition was announced in 2007, which was decided on in April 2008. The winner was Christoph Meyer with an "audio path through a prison for women and 5 political systems". The audio path was opened on 30 May 2015. ==References==