Pilot documentation center on the NSU complex takes shape

The pilot documentation center on the NSU complex in Chemnitz is set to visibly take shape in the coming months. The foundations have been laid, including funding and a rental agreement, and the implementation phase can now begin, the initiators announced. The opening is planned for May 2025 - Chemnitz will also be the European Capital of Culture next year.

By then, the new center will already be hosting a number of events. The initial aim is to make the documentation center on the NSU complex better known in the city and to enter into dialogue with the people, it was said. The pilot project is being funded by the federal and state governments with a total of 4 million euros.

"It is very good news that this pioneering project is now entering the implementation phase," said Federal Minister of Culture Claudia Roth (Alliance 90/Greens). "The Chemnitz pilot documentation center is an important step towards coming to terms with the NSU complex and strengthening our culture of remembrance." It offers space for education, research and reflection. And it contributes to making the stories of the victims and those affected by the right-wing extremist NSU murder and terror series visible.

Location in the city center

The documentation center is being built in a former store on Johannisplatz in the city center. The initiators hope that this will give it more visibility than the originally planned location, the building of an energy supplier. The plan is to show a multimedia exhibition "Open Process" there. A public meeting place including a café is also to be created.

Chemnitz and Zwickau were once the retreats of the so-called National Socialist Underground (NSU). The core trio lived here undisturbed for years, had numerous supporters and organized their series of murders of at least ten people - the victims were eight small business owners of Turkish origin, one of Greek origin and a policewoman. The trio is also responsible for a number of robberies and several bomb attacks.

The Chemnitz pilot project is intended to provide impetus for the planned central documentation center on the NSU complex in Germany.