NS-Dokumentationszentrum (EL-DE-Haus)

The NS-Dokumentationszentrum der Stadt Köln is housed in the EL-DE-Haus at Appellhofplatz 23-25 in Cologne's Altstadt-Nord, North Rhine-Westphalia. The building, named after the initials of its original owner, Leopold Dahmen, served as the regional headquarters of the Gestapo from 1935 to 1945, and it is the largest regional memorial of its kind in Germany. The Stadtbahn stop Appellhofplatz is directly at the building. The most affecting part of the visit is the basement, where the former Gestapo prison cells survive with inscriptions, drawings and messages scratched into the walls by prisoners; these are preserved as historic evidence and are the reason the site is a memorial as well as a museum. The permanent exhibition upstairs documents Cologne under National Socialism, covering everyday life, persecution of Jewish residents, Sinti and Roma, political opponents and forced labourers, and the resistance and the end of the war. Photographs, documents and audio testimonies are used, and much of the material is available in English through audio guides or texts; confirm languages at nsdok.de. A visit takes roughly 90 minutes to two hours, though people who read the documents carefully often stay longer. The content is serious and graphic in places, so it is generally unsuitable for young children and works best for teenagers and adults. Weekday mornings are quiet, while school groups visit on some weekdays, so the early afternoon may also be busy. The centre is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00AM to 6:00PM and on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00AM to 6:00PM; it is closed on Mondays. Fares and temporary exhibitions should be checked at nsdok.de or museenkoeln.de. Visitors should respect the memorial character of the cellar, where behaviour is expected to be quiet.