Site of Volksgericht in Berlin

[paul.i.w]

Can anyone tell me where the site of the Volksgericht in Berlin was/is? I have a couple of guide books which tell me different locations.

Thanks

Paul

[GregSingh]

From 1935 to February 1945 Volksgerichtshof main office was at Bellevuestraße 15.
It was part of Reichsjustizministerium, so it's possible other temporary locations were used for court proceedings, eg. during maintenace of the building, etc.

What other addresses do you have?

[Mannheim]

I believe the Volksgericht was initially in the Preussisches Herrenhaus in Leipzigerstrasse.

[hambubger]

Jealous, Paul... Sounds like one hell of an interesting tour, if you're going there. (Freisler's) Volksgerichtshof was at Bellevuestrasse 15 in Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Apparently, the current location is owned by Sony, but there's a marker pointing to the OG "courthouse" location.

[VanillaNuns]

Sony Centre - There's a marker pointing to the OG "courthouse" location.

Yes, and I was knocked down by a car in 2002 whilst photographing it. Very dangerous location on a busy road.

Also worth mentioning, the court also sat at the Kammergericht building in Kleistpark. The 20 July trials were held here and filmed. Kaltenbrunner was one of the senior NSDAP figures who attended some of the sessions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammergericht

I don't think it's open to the public to wander around in but I could be wrong.

[paul.i.w]

Thanks for all the replies and pics. I had Potsdamer Platz and Kleistpark as locations, I didn’t realise it moved to the latter for the July 20th proceedings. Did it then stay there? Where was Freisler killed, was that back in Potsdamer Platz? And is the Prussisches Herrenhaus somewhere different again?

Thanks
Paul

[Mannheim]

I know Wikipedia isn't the most reliable of sources but scroll down to 'Meeting Place', fourth paragraph:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_House_of_Lords

The building is still there. At least it was in 2019.

[Hans1906]

The term is "Volksgerichtshof", any other designation makes no sense.

Volksgerichtshof https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksgerichtshof

More misspellings are just embarrassing, given the circumstances at the time.

Typical German nitpicking, but nothing works without it, never.


Hans

[paul.i.w]

Thanks Hans, you’re right of course, and noted
Paul

[Hans1906]

And no, I haven't seen Plötzensee, I don't even want to write about "visiting".

I will never enter this room, never, the memories and few films are more than enough.

This isn't where I want to be, ever!
(I spoke to people who saw the execution room, that was enough for me.)


Hans

[hambubger]

Thanks for bringing the Kammergericht to attention. The film available from the July 20th Plot show-trials clearly shows Kaltenbrunner towards the front, but I haven't been able to identify anyone else in those videos (aside from Freisler and the condemned). I haven't ever seen a list of all the attendees, but do remember hearing that Kaltenbrunner was the highest-ranking NSDAP member in attendance. The Kammergericht looks beautiful in the photo provided above this post... I hadn't ever seen it in color, and just knowing the history kind of conjures a dark, sterile impression.