The new Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation – situated in the middle of Berlin – is a visible symbol for the memory and commemoration of displacement, expulsion, and forced migration in both the past and present. On June 23, 2021, the foundation of the same name will open this place of historical education and lively debates to the public. For its first floor, aatvos designed a library with a testimony archive that encourages people, in the spirit of Third Places*, to stay and converse. The history of Europe in the 20^th century has been shaped by national conflicts, wars, and dictatorships. Furthermore, many people were forced to leave their villages and towns. Therefore, in 2005 the federal government at that time decided to create a visible symbol for the remembrance and commemoration of flight, displacement, and forced migration. The new Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation was meant not only to provide space for remembrance and commemoration of the past but also to stimulate discourse about current events. After renovation and redesign by the Austrian architect studio Marte.Marte, the former Deutschlandhaus at Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin was handed over to the foundation in 2020.

In addition to exhibition and event rooms, there is also a special scientific library with a testimony archive as an important pillar, designed by aatvos. On June 21, 2021, the centre was officially inaugurated in the presence of German chancellor Angela Merkel and will welcome the public starting June 23, 2021. What does it mean – on a personal level and for society at large – to lose one’s home? The guests can delve deeper into this question in the newly designed rooms of the library and testimony archive of the Documentation Centre. “When designing the interior, we paid great attention to creating opportunities for the audience to process and think through what they saw, heard, and experienced in the museum,” summarizes Creative Director Aat Vos. “The new library offers various opportunities to sit down, relax, and reflect on the meaning of memories.” Before entering the main exhibition rooms, visitors pass a colonnade. This area positively affects the exhibition because it hosts individual seating cocoons, inviting… [Read more via the downloadable below]