This guided tour gives you an overview of the history of the EL-DE building, which was the headquarters of the Secret State Police (Gestapo) in Cologne from 1935 to 1945. It takes you to the former prison in the building, today's memorial with over 1,800 inscriptions from the prisoners, as well as to our permanent exhibition “Cologne under National Socialism”.

Duration
1.5 hours

Costs
€ 45 for pupils
€ 75 for students / trainees / youth groups (plus admission)
€ 112,50 for adults (plus admission)
All of our educational tours are free of charge for schools based in Cologne.

For whom
This tour is suitable for school classes from year 7 upwards as well as adult groups.

Languages
We offer this guided tour in either German or English. Guided tours in Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish are available on a limited basis and upon request (subject to the availability of guides).

Please register your school class here.

You can book a private group tour here.

acting. democratically. together.

Voting, demonstrating and becoming politically active … all these are integral parts of our democracy. But where do we experience democracy in everyday life? And how can we actively shape it?

Get inspired by examples of Cologne-based groups in the exhibition's themed rooms – in a very concrete and local way. Whether it is about living, working, partying, remembering or creating shared spaces together: What ideas and opportunities are there? What are the challenges and tensions in acting together democratically?

The exhibition also offers you the possibility to share your perspectives, ideas, wishes and demands, to discuss them together and to make them part of the exhibition.

Duration
1.5 hours

Costs
€ 45 for pupils
€ 75 for students / trainees / youth groups (plus admission)
€ 112,50 for adults (plus admission)
All of our educational tours are free of charge for schools based in Cologne.

Languages
We provide this guided tour only in German.

Please register your school class here.

You can book a private group tour here.

This is an exhibition about people persecuted under National Socialism as „asocials“ and „career criminals“. Here, their experiences are at the forefront. Between 1933 and 1945 the German authorities and police acted on prejudices inherent in society. They subjected people to surveillance and harassment and robbed tens of thousands of their freedom. Many were murdered. West Germany, East Germany and Austria refused to grant them compensation. Politicians and society denied recognition of the suffering and injustice they had endured.

In February 2020 the German parliament declared: „No one was rightly interned in a concentration camp, those persecuted as ‚asocials’ and ‚career criminals’ were also victims of National Socialist tyranny.” Following this resolution, the parliament commissioned the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial to develop an exhibition. It represents one of the most significant remembrance policy initiatives of the decade in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Duration
1.5 hours

Costs
€ 45 for pupils
€ 75 for students / trainees / youth groups (plus admission)
€ 112,50 for adults (plus admission)

Languages
We provide this guided tour only in German.

Please register your school class here.

You can book a private group tour here.

Four fates - two places: Perpetrators and victims, persecution and crimes in Cologne and in Brauweiler

The EL-DE building in Cologne and the former workhouse in Brauweiler - two places both used for detention by Cologne’s Gestapo that became places of persecution, crime, torture and murder, especially at the end of the war.

Heinz Humbach, Teofila Turska, Ilse Neugebauer and Fritz Theilen - four life stories, four stories of persecution that connect the two places.

During this tour of the EL-DE building, you will learn more about the work of the Gestapo in Cologne and Brauweiler as well as the four biographies, each of which also represents a group of persecuted people: the National Committee for a Free Germany and the resistance at the end of the war, forced labourers, Jews and non-conformist youths.

Duration
1.5 hours

Costs
€ 45 for pupils
€ 75 for students / trainees / youth groups (plus admission)
€ 112,50 for adults (plus admission)
All of our educational tours are free of charge for schools based in Cologne.

For whom
This tour is suitable for school classes from year 9 upwards as well as adult groups.

Languages
We offer this guided tour only in German. Guided tours in English are available on a limited basis (subject to the availability of guides).

Please register your school class here.

You can book a private tour here.

Understanding history in the EL-DE building

During the tour of the permanent exhibition and the Gestapo prison memorial you will learn more about the history of the EL-DE building and the NS era in Cologne - told in a completely new way: The past can be experienced by touch and history can be understood using various exhibits.

This guided tour is aimed at visually impaired and blind people, whose needs we would like to meet through this format specifically developed for this target group.

Duration
1.5 hours

Costs
€ 112,50

For whom
The number of participants is limited to eight visually impaired and blind visitors with their accompanying person. When booking, please indicate whether you will be coming with a companion or not.

Languages
We provide this guided tour only in German.

You can book a private tour here. 

Anyone learning German is bound to come into contact with German history and its significance for the present – including the Nazi era. The tour provides basic knowledge about the Nazi dictatorship and its pre- and post-history at an authentic historical site. It encourages people to talk about how this part of German history is dealt with. The interactive, dialogue-based structure of the tour is also designed to provide an opportunity to practice the German language.

Duration
2 hours

Costs
112,50 € for adults (plus admission), reduced 100 € (plus admission)

For whom
The tour is suitable for anyone learning German, migrants, young refugees and adults, participants in integration and orientation courses or language exchange projects.

Languages
We offer this tour in German at level B1 and above.

You can book a private group tour here.