The Initiativkreis Riebeckstraße 63 was founded on July 3, 2019 at the historic site of the former municipal workhouse. The association of more than 30 individuals, civil society, municipal and academic actors is committed to creating a living place of remembrance. Our central demand is to commemorate and learn at the authentic site.

Our initiative was preceded by a request from Petra Caglj Sejdi, Green Party city councilor and board member of the Romano Sumnal Association. In January 2018, she called for a “commemoration of the politically motivated injustice in the building complex at Riebeckstraße 63,” which was approved by a majority of the city council. In a resolution passed by the city council on May 16, 2018, the Leipzig city administration was tasked with “permanently drawing attention to the terrible history of the building complex, for example as a municipal labor institution under National Socialism and as a venereological station during the GDR era, in an appropriate form as part of the renovation of Riebeckstraße 63.” The resolution also stipulated that “research and development of a form of commemoration […] should take place in cooperation with the Saxon Psychiatric Museum […] and the Memorial to Forced Labor”.

From March 15 to 16, 2019, a symposium on the history of Riebeckstraße and similar locations was held, which met with lively public interest. On July 3, 2019, the Initiativkreis Riebeckstraße 63 was founded, which is open to all interested parties and organized on a grassroots democratic basis. Since September 2021, the Initiativkreis is legally represented by the association Riebeckstraße 63 e.V..

Since spring 2022, the association and the Initiativkreis have been able to use the former gatehouse in the entrance area of the site for events and exhibitions. At the same time, an audio tour has been designed to give interested parties a closer look at the site of the former municipal workhouse and its history. You can read more about this on this website under “News”.

If you are interested in joining us, please send us an e-mail: initiativkreis@riebeckstrasse63.de