Columbia (camp de concentration)

The former Columbia concentration camp stood on the northern edge of Tempelhof Field in Berlin. The site traces back to a military detention facility built around 1900, which was converted into a police prison after World War I. Starting in 1933, the Gestapo used the building as a jail for political opponents before it was officially opened as an SS concentration camp in December 1934. Because of its central location in the city, many prominent figures from political life were held here, including politicians, trade unionists, clergy, and artists. Living conditions were inhumane due to the severe overcrowding of the few cells, and prisoners were subjected to arbitrary abuse by the SS guards.

After the camp was officially dissolved in November 1936 as part of the rebuilding of Tempelhof Airport, the grounds were handed over to the Reich Air Ministry. The buildings remained standing until at least 1938, when they were demolished. Today, a steel memorial sculpture by the sculptor Georg Seibert, installed in 1994 at the junction of Golßener Straße and Columbiadamm, commemorates the history of the site. It recreates a building with prison cells. In addition, a temporary memorial site is planned to open at the former Tempelhof Airport in September 2024. It consists of a long lettered inscription reading "Nicht mehr zu sehen" ("No longer visible"), which is meant to encourage visitors to ask about the traces of history that have disappeared there.