Erinnerungsort Ihnestraße (Ihnestrasse Memorial)

From October 16th 2024, Erinnerungsort Ihnestraße (Ihnestrasse Memorial) is open to the public at Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science of Freie Universität Berlin. The permanent exhibition critically engages with the history of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics (KWI-A). It addresses how science and injustice became intertwined at this specific site and commemorates the victims of this dehumanizing treatment. Erinnerungsort Ihnestraße (Ihnestraße Memorial) is open Monday to Friday from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm. All further information can be found on the website of the memorial at: www.erinnerungsort-ihnestrasse.de.

The History of The Building

Now property of Freie Universität Berlin and used by Otto Suhr Institute of Policial Science, the building at Ihnestraße 22 once housed the KWI-A from 1927 to 1945. The KWI-A soon gained international reputation as an institute for human genetics, "race research" and eugenics. Even as early on as the Weimar Republic this institute espoused and propagated eugenic ideas. Some scholars also used older colonial anthropological research in their work. During the National Socialist period members of the institute used their research to bolster the racist, antisemitic, and ableist policies of persecution and extermination enacted by the Nazis and were implicated in such crimes against humanity.

The Prehistory of The Memorial Site

Erinnerungsort Ihnestraße was developed by the project "Geschichte der Ihnestrasse 22" (History of Ihnestrasse 22") which was established at Freie Universität Berlin in January 2019. For the exhibition, the project team reviewed the already existing research on the history of the KWI-A and on the history of eugenics in Germany and conducted research especially to identify victims of the KWI-A. The project consulted with self-organizations of the relevant victim groups as well as with an academic advisory board while drafting formats and narratives to visualize the history of the KWI-A and the injustices associated with it.

The project team currently includes the historian Dr. Manuela Bauche (head of project), the historically oriented political scientist Volker Strähle (freelance research associate), and the political scientists  Sarah Vera John as student assistants and Mika Kößler as freelance assistant. Dr. des. Kerstin Stubenvoll was a researcher in the project from April 2021 until August 2022. Danna Marshall was part of the project team as a student assistant from 2020 until 2023.

The architecture and graphic design of the exhibiton has been developed by Thomas Doetsch Architekt and vizibil.