Historical Tours on the Site of the Former Forced Labor Institution, Leipzig
On Saturday, May 25, 2024, 2 p.m. the Riebeckstraße 63 association is offering a historical tour of the site of the former forced labor institution. The tour will provide information about the almost 130-year history of the Riebeckstraße 63 complex in Leipzig, which is primarily characterized by exclusion, detention and the disciplining of social outsiders. Participation is free of charge and possible without prior registration. A further guided tour will take place on Sunday, June 30, at 2 p.m.
Dresden Workshop Report
On Friday, October 28th, we will be guests at the Fall School of Further Thinking – Heinrich Böll Foundation Saxony and give an insight into the work of the Initiative Riebeckstraße 63 as an active place of remembrance.
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The title of the conference is “The rumor about the others – entanglements of anti-Semitism, racism against Rom_nja and Sint_ezze and social chauvinism”.
Moderation and Concept: Renata Horvathova, Kathrin Krahl, Sabine Richter, Stefan Schwarz, Irina Suttner, Susanne Voigt
Registration: schwarz@hatikva.de
Date 28.10.2022
Start 10 a.m.
Location Goethe Institut Dresden, Königsbrücker Str. 84
Public Tour on October 6, 5 p.m.
On Thursday, October 6, 2022, 5 p.m., Markus Streb will give a guided tour of the Riebeckstraße 63 as part of the district festival “OSTLichter”. The historical tour will focus on the site of the city’s Labor Institute under National Socialism.
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Riebeckstraße 63 was a focal point of social exclusion in the political systems of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1892, the “St. Georg Forced Labor Institution” was opened at Riebeckstraße 63 on a total of 28,000 square meters. The building complex has been largely preserved to this day. The site became the epitome of repressive social policies, stigmatization, exclusion and forced labor. Under National Socialism, the site in the east of Leipzig was a transit camp and police prison, while in the GDR it was a venereological ward, a social home and a long-term psychiatric ward.
In 2019, the “Initiativkreis Riebeckstr. 63” was founded. More than 30 individuals, civil society, municipal and academic actors have joined forces to create a living place of remembrance. As part of the district festival “OSTLichter”, the historical tour will provide a first insight into the history of the complex.
Date 06.10.2022
Start 17 Uhr
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Guided Tours of the History of Riebeckstraße 63 on September 11 at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
On “Open Monument Day” on Sunday, September 11, Cornelia Lotter will give a guided tour of the site of the former Municipal Labor House at 12 p.m. At 4 p.m. Bettina Wilpert and Markus Streb will lead a joint tour of the site. Tours are free and last approximately 60 to 90 minutes.
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On Open Monument Day, the Open Depot in the former gatehouse will also be open from 10 am to 5 pm.
Date 11.09.2022
Start 4 p.m., duration approximately 90 minutes
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Open Monument Day on September 11
On “Open Monument Day”, Sunday, September 11, the exhibition in the gatehouse – the Open Depot – will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in addition to the regular opening hours (every Thursday in September from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.). There will also be guided tours of the site at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
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The Open Depot in the former gatehouse at Riebeckstraße 63 is a collection, exhibition and meeting place all in one. It displays documents and objects relating to the history of the former municipal workhouse and provides an insight into the first results of research into the history of the site. At the same time, it provides a space for visitors to contribute their own sources, stories, and photographs to the reappraisal of the site.
Opened on November 8, 1892, the municipal workhouse was for decades the epitome of repressive social policies, stigmatization, exclusion, and forced labor. The Initiativkreis and the Verein Riebeckstraße 63 are trying to reappraise this history at the historical site.
Cornelia Lotter will give the tour at 12 p.m. At 4 p.m., Bettina Wilpert and Markus Streb will give a joint tour of the site.
Date 11.09.2022
Start 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Open Depot – September Hours
In September, the Open Depot in the former gatehouse at Riebeckstraße 63 will be open every Thursday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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You can drop by spontaneously, meet members of the Initiativkreis and learn more about the organization, use an app to explore the audio tour about the history of the site on your own, and take a look at the Open Depot.
We look forward to your visit to Riebeckstraße 63, the historic site of Leipzig’s former forced labor camp.
To the audio tour: https://rundgang.riebeckstrasse63.de
Date 01.09.2022
Start every Thursday in September, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location Former Gatehouse, Riebeckstraße 63
General Assembly and Initiativkreis Meeting
On Thursday, September 1, 2022, the general meeting of the Verein Riebeckstraße 63 e.V. will take place at 4.30 p.m. in the former gatehouse, Riebeckstraße 63, Leipzig.
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Non-members are also welcome, although they do not have voting rights. If you would like to become a member, you can find the application form here. Immediately following the general meeting, we will have our monthly Initiativkreis meeting at 5 p.m., which will be held regularly on the first Thursday of the month at 5 p.m. starting in September.
In addition, we would like to take advantage of the hopefully beautiful late summer evening to sit together with drinks and food we have brought with us and celebrate the great steps we have taken in the past and especially this year.
Date 01.09.2022
Start 4.30 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Historical Tours on July 7 and 21, 5 p.m.
On Thursday, July 7, and Thursday, July 21, at 5 p.m., there will be guided tours of the site at Riebeckstrasse 63.
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The tours present the current state of research on the history of Riebeckstraße 63 since its foundation as a “forced labor institution” in 1892. The focus is on the National Socialist era and the GDR. It is also possible to explore the site at any time with our audio tour, available at: rundgang.riebeckstrasse63.de Participation free of charge as part of the series of events “130 Years of the Municipal Labor Institute in Leipzig”.
The series of events was funded by the Initiative Fund Partnership for Democracy.
Date 21.07.2022
Start 5 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Opening of the Open Depot on July 14, 5 p.m.
As part of the commemorative year “130 Years of the Municipal Labor House in Leipzig”, the Open Depot will open on Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 5 p.m. in the former gatehouse at Riebeckstraße 63. Objects and stories will be collected here in order to research the history of the former Municipal Labor House and to create an active memorial and meeting place.
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Starting at 2 p.m., a storytelling café will provide an opportunity to talk with former residents, contemporary witnesses, neighbors, and members of the initiative group. After a brief introduction, the Open Depot will be open to the public from 5 p.m., and an audio tour will be available to explore the entire site.
At the same time, the Initiativkreis and the Verein Riebeckstraße 63 invite visitors to bring their own documents, photographs, objects, and stories to be exhibited in the Open Depot. The Open Depot makes continuities, ruptures, and contemporary references visible and is intended to encourage visitors to engage with the history of violence at this site. The Open Depot is open every Thursday from 2 to 5 p.m. until the end of August. Individual appointments can also be made for the delivery of objects and sources.
Date 14.07.2022
Start 5 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63, Former Gatehouse
“Herumtreiberinnen” – Reading with Bettina Wilpert on June 30, 2022
On Thursday, June 30, 2022, the author Bettina Wilpert will read from her novel “Herumtreiberinnen” at 5 p.m. The reading will take place at Riebeckstraße 63, the historical location where the novel is set.
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Also woven into the novel are the experiences of Lilo, who was imprisoned here in the 1940s for working with her father in the communist resistance, and of Robin, a social worker who works in the house, now a refugee shelter, in the 2010s.
“Herumtreiberinnen” is the second novel by the Leipzig author Bettina Wilpert after “nichts, was uns passiert”. She was also part of the editorial team for the book “Auf dem Klo habe ich noch nie einen Schwan gesehen – Erinnerungen aus 30 Jahren Conne Island”. The reading is part of the series of events “130 Years of the Municipal Labor Institute in Leipzig” and is sponsored by the project “Leipzig. Place of Diversity”.
Date 30.06.2022
Start 5 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
“Schweigeort” – Reading with Cornelia Lotter on June 16, 2022
On Thursday, June 16, 2022, the author Cornelia Lotter will read from her novel “Schweigeort”. The reading will take place at Riebeckstraße 63, the historical location where the novel is set.
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On the novel:
When the young Ukrainian Olga arrives at Riebeckstraße 63 in Leipzig in 1943 to work as a forced laborer in one of the city’s armament factories, she has no idea that years later her daughter Sonja and granddaughter Carola will also encounter evil in these buildings.
The dark history of the place is linked to the fate of the three women, each of whom strives for personal happiness and self-realization and is in danger of failing because of her aspirations. Various dictatorships and men who do not realize that they are fighting for the wrong cause challenge the women’s resistance.
The reading is part of the series of events “130 Years of the Municipal Labor Institute in Leipzig” and is sponsored by the project “Leipzig. Place of Diversity”.
Date 16.06.2022
Start 5 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Opening of the Gatehouse: Vernissage Art Exhibition + Release of the Audio Tour
On May 19, 2022, we will celebrate the opening of the art exhibition “JOD and Mr. Z” and the release of the audio tour app about the history of Riebeckstraße 63 in Leipzig by moving into the former gatehouse of the municipal workhouse at the historical location. We cordially invite you to join us.
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The exhibition “JOD and Mr. Z” will open at 4 p.m. The artworks were created in Haus 2, Riebeckstraße 63, at the turn of the millennium as part of a project with Durchblick e.V. The group “2 von uns” from the SEB-Therapie-Orchester – Gelebte Inklusion will provide the musical accompaniment for the event.
Starting at 5 p.m., a new audio tour will give those interested the opportunity to learn more about the site of the former workhouse and its history. There will also be the opportunity to talk to artists, authors, and members of the Initiativkreis and the Verein Riebeckstraße 63. They are committed to creating a vibrant place of remembrance and encounter that enables historical memory and learning.
As part of the commemorative year “130 Years of the Municipal Workhouse,” we are planning further events, including a “storytelling café” and the establishment of an “open depot” with objects and archival material. We look forward to seeing you on May 19th!
The Audio Tour: https://rundgang.riebeckstrasse63.de/
Date 19.05.2022
Start 4 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Book Presentation: “Herumtreiberinnen” by Bettina Wilpert
The book presentation originally planned for 25.03.22 has been postponed to Sunday, 24th April. The author Bettina Wilpert will read from her new novel “Herumtreiberinnen” (Verbrecher Verlag, 2022) at Conne Island.
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Manja is 17 years old and lives in Leipzig in the 1980s. She and her best friend Maxie skip school, break into allotment gardens, and meet boys at the open-air swimming pool or at the fair, until Manja is caught by the Volkspolizei in the room of contract worker Manuel and sent to the venereological ward for women with sexually transmitted diseases.
Also woven into the novel are the experiences of Lilo, who was imprisoned here in the 1940s for working with her father in the communist resistance, and of Robin, a social worker who works in the house, now a refugee shelter, in the 2010s.
The novel “Herumtreiberinnen” tells the stories of three young women from different times and asks what influence these times and the respective form of government had on their lives. A house in Leipzig’s Lerchenstraße is the connecting element between the three narrative strands.
“Herumtreiberinnen” is the second novel by the Leipzig author Bettina Wilpert after “nichts, was uns passiert”. She was also part of the editorial team for the book “Auf dem Klo habe ich noch nie einen Schwan gesehen – Erinnerungen aus 30 Jahren Conne Island”.
The reading will be hosted by Anna Kow.
Sponsored by: MONOM Stiftung für Veränderung
The reading will take place under 3G regulations. Please wear a mask, which you can take off at your seat.
Date 24.04.2022
Start 7 p.m.
Location Conne Island
Historical Tour on October 24, Riebeckstraße 63
Historical tour of the site of Riebeckstraße 63: The former municipal labor institution in Leipzig at the time of National Socialism, the GDR and today.
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Due to the current situation, the number of participants is limited. Please register at: rundgang.r63@mail.de
The 3G rule applies: Participants should be vaccinated, recovered or tested (please bring a current test).
When: October 24, 2021
Time: 12 p.m.
Meeting Point: Riebeckstraße 63, Leipzig
Duration approximately 1.5 hours
Free, but donations are welcome.
The tour focuses on the almost 130-year history of the Riebeckstraße 63 complex, which is primarily characterized by the exclusion, incarceration, and discipline of social outsiders.
Opened in 1892, the workhouse initially served primarily to discipline its inmates and had its own night shelter for the homeless. During the National Socialist era, Riebeckstraße served as a place of detention, an assembly camp for Jews, and a center for forced civilian labor in Leipzig. In the GDR, the site was home to a psychiatric outpost and a venereological ward where deviant women were incarcerated.
During the tour, we will examine ruptures and continuities in the building complex in relation to discourses of labor, sexuality, and deviance, and illustrate the everyday lives of those affected through biographical examples.
The tour will be led by Bettina Wilpert and Markus Streb of the “Initiative Riebeckstraße 63”. The initiative is committed to creating a memorial, learning and meeting place on the site of the former municipal labor institute. Interested parties are cordially invited to participate in this process.
Date 24.10.2021
Start 12 p.m.
Location Riebeckstr. 63, Leipzig
Book Presentation: Die ehemalige Leipziger Arbeitsanstalt Riebeckstr. 63
Since its foundation in 1892, a place not far from the Literaturhaus Leipzig has stood for the exclusion, imprisonment, discipline and persecution of people: the former municipal workhouse at Riebeckstraße 63. During the Nazi era, at least 76 inmates were victims of “euthanasia”.
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A transit camp was set up for the deportation of Jews, Sinti and Roma. The workhouse served as a center for civilian forced labor in Leipzig. The building’s infrastructure continued to be used in the GDR: a branch of the psychiatric ward and a closed venereological ward were located here.
The evening will focus on the various “GeSchichten” of Riebeckstraße 63, questioning patterns and ruptures in dealing with “marginalized groups” and formulating perspectives on the culture of remembrance, how a place of remembrance, learning and encounter can be created here, whose significance extends far beyond the city limits.
Book presentation and discussion with Ann Katrin Düben (former director of the Leipzig Forced Labor Memorial, now director of the Breitenau Memorial), Thomas Müller (Durchblick e.V., director of the Saxon Psychiatric Museum) and Thomas Seyde (psychiatric coordinator of the City of Leipzig).
Moderation: Nora Pester (Hentrich & Hentrich Verlag)
Admission free. Registration: 0341 3 085 10 86 or tickets@literaturhaus-leipzig.de
Organized by Initiativkreis Riebeckstraße 63, Interessengemeinschaft Psychiatriebetroffener “Durchblick” e.V., Gedenkstätte für Zwangsarbeit Leipzig, Literaturhaus Leipzig and Hentrich & Hentrich Verlag.
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Please note: In case of bad weather, the event will take place in the Literaturcafé, which, due to the current situation, does not offer catering in the evening. Please bring a face mask and, if necessary, your own drinks.
Please register at tickets@literaturhaus-leipzig.de or call 0341 30 85 10 86.
Date 22.09.2020
Start 7.30 p.m.
Location Haus des Buches – Literaturhaus Leipzig
Historical Tour on September 12, Riebeckstraße 63
Historical tour of the site of Riebeckstraße 63: The former municipal labor institution in Leipzig at the time of National Socialism, the GDR and today.
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The tours present the current state of research on the history of Riebeckstraße 63 since its foundation as a “forced labor institution” in 1892. The focus is on the National Socialist era and the GDR.
It is also possible to explore the site at any time with our audio tour, available at:
rundgang.riebeckstrasse63.de
Participation free of charge as part of the series of events “130 Years of the Municipal Labor Institute in Leipzig”
THE SERIES OF EVENTS WAS SUPPORTED BY THE INITIATIVE FUND PARTNERSHIP FOR DEMOCRACY
Date 12.09.2022
Start 5 p.m.
Location Riebeckstraße 63
Symposium: From an Initiative to an Active Place of Remembrance
Riebeckstraße 63 in Leipzig is a place of crystallization of social exclusion across the political systems of the 19th and 20th centuries as well as a center of National Socialist persecution policy.
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Opened in 1892 as the St. Georg Forced Labor Institution, the city’s welfare policies became so strict during the National Socialist era that many inmates became victims of the “euthanasia” crimes. Under National Socialism, the workhouse served as a central distribution point for forced laborers, as well as a collection and transit camp. During the GDR era, the buildings housed a social home, a venereological ward and a psychiatric ward of the district psychiatric hospital.
This authentic site of persecution, stigmatization and exclusion is to be actively commemorated in the future. The Initiative Riebeckstraße 63, founded in 2019, is committed to this task.
What could a place of remembrance, learning and encounter look like on the site of Riebeckstraße 63? What steps are necessary to create such a place? What obstacles and problems need to be taken into account? These central questions will be on the program of the symposium From an Initiative to an Active Place of Remembrance on April 24, 2021.
We are pleased to welcome three external speakers at the Alte Handelsbörse in Leipzig, who will report on their experiences with similar projects and discuss perspectives and questions with us:
Annegret Schüle (Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne, Erfurt); Martin Düspohl (FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum, Berlin) und Kaspar Nürnberg (Aktives Museum, Berlin).
The symposium is aimed at (future) members of the Initiativkreis Riebeckstraße 63 as well as all interested people in and around Leipzig.
Concept and moderation:
Achim Beier, Ella Falldorf, Nora Pester, Hannes Schneider
Date 24.04.2021
Start 11 a.m.
Location Zoom live from the Alte Handelsbörse
“Schweigeort” – Online Reading and Discussion
Cornelia Lotter reads from her novel “Schweigeort”: “Three women. Three times. One place. And the silence that grandmother, daughter and granddaughter keep about their experiences in this dark place.”
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When the young Ukrainian Olga arrives at Riebeckstraße 63 in Leipzig in 1943 to work as a forced laborer in one of the city’s armament factories, she has no idea that years later her daughter Sonja and granddaughter Carola will also encounter evil in these buildings.
The dark history of the place is linked to the fate of the three women, each of whom strives for personal happiness and self-realization and is in danger of failing because of her aspirations. Various dictatorships and men who do not realize that they are fighting for the wrong cause challenge the women’s resistance.
Date 20.04.2021
Start 7 p.m.
Location Online
Opening of the BAG Wohnungslosenhilfe e.V. Exhibition “Homeless people under National Socialism”
The exhibition opening will take place on October 6, 2020 at 5 p.m. in the Untere Wandelhalle of Neues Rathaus Leipzig.
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After an introduction by Thomas R. Müller, Director of the Saxon Psychiatric Museum, historian Oliver Gaida will give a lecture on “‘He who does not work shall not eat’ – Persecution of the homeless under National Socialism”. The event will be moderated by Josephine Ulbricht, Leipzig Forced Labor Memorial.
Date 06.11.2020
Start 5 p.m.
Location Neues Rathaus Leipzig