Further Media
We have almost reached the end of our walk. The historical photo in the guide, taken at the corner of Kaiserallee and Marienfelder Allee, brings us back to the start of our tour: the years 1952-53, when the reception center was built.
Over the past 70 years, the reception center has provided shelter to around 1.5 million people on their way to a new life. Most of them, around 1.4 million, came from the GDR.
Between 1964 and 2010, approximately 100.000 so called “Aussiedler”– the legal definition for people of German origin – arrived, first from Poland and later from the countries of the former Soviet Union. Since 2011, refugees from war zones and crisis areas worldwide have found shelter here.
Now, head back to the museum entrance. As you walk along Marienfelder Allee, you will hear more voices from our archive of contemporary witnesses. The interviewees lived here at different times and for varying lengths. Their memories offer personal insights into the experience of arriving and living in Marienfelde.