denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof

The denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof memorial was dedicated in 2017 in the eastern part of HafenCity, where the Hannoversche Bahnhof railway station formerly stood. The memorial commemorates the more than 8,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma who were deported from here between 1940 and 1945 and sent to ghettos and concentration camps in Central and Eastern Europe. The employees of various Nazi state authorities and organisations ensured that these deportations ran smoothly. The 20 transports that left from the station were destined for Belzec, Lodz, Minsk, Riga, Auschwitz und Theresienstadt. Only a few hundred of the deportees survived the inhumane conditions.

Site of remembrance and learning
The core elements of the memorial are the historical railway tracks and platform 2 of the former railway station, both of which have been listed as protected historical monuments since 2008. A memorial table and 20 panels with the names of the deportees commemorate the victims of the crimes. Associations of former victims, working with the city of Hamburg and HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, were heavily involved in the creation of the memorial. It is thanks to them that the name panels were included as a locus of remembrance at the site.

In 2026, a new errected documentation centre will open near Lohseplatz, the former forecourt of the railway station. The exhibition there will explain the fate of the deportees in the context of the history of Nazi persecution. It will showcase the routes taken by the persecuted people and the destinations of the transports, and it will also address the scope of action available to the majority society and the deeds committed by those involved in the crimes. A pavilion at the denk.mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof currently provides information about the historical events and the planning process for the memorial. The memorial site is connected to Lohseplatz by the Fuge, a swathe that cuts deeply through the four-hectare Lohsepark.

More information and events can be find on the website Hannoverscher Bahnhof (gedenkstaetten-hamburg.de).