Is the tour free of charge?

Yes, entry and the tour are free of charge.

Where does the event take place?

At the memorial site Topf & Söhne, Sorbenweg 7, 99099 Erfurt.

How long does the visit last approximately?

The tour is designed for about 120 minutes.

Is the memorial site barrier-free?

Yes, all floors are accessible; there is an elevator, a mobile ramp, and a restroom for wheelchair users.

Are there fixed opening hours?

Yes, the memorial site is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM, closed on Mondays.

What is the focus of the tour?

The tour focuses on the history of Topf & Söhne, the business relations with the SS, and the question of responsibility in professional everyday life.

Erfurt shows history with shocking precision and quiet moral weight

Name: Crimes Against Humanity and Professional Everyday Life – Topf & Söhne and the Business Relations with the SS
Start: 2026-09-27T17:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-09-27T19:00:00+02:00
Location: Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne

A tour that sharpens the view on responsibility

The public tour at the memorial site Topf & Söhne opens on September 27, 2026, at 3:00 PM, providing a precise access to the permanent exhibition Technicians of the 'Final Solution'. Topf & Söhne – The Oven Manufacturers of Auschwitz. The tour is free of charge and invites participants to examine the intersection of technical expertise, commercial everyday life, and Nazi crimes based on historical foundations.

A place of learning with unsettling clarity

The memorial site Topf & Söhne is regarded as a historical place of industrial complicity in the Holocaust. The permanent exhibition illustrates through correspondence, construction drawings, offers, and other sources, how a normal industrial company contributed to the technical infrastructure of mass murder. It is precisely this sober source situation that generates a profound aesthetic experience: no overwhelming staging, but a focus on documents, spatial effects, and the quiet weight of history.

What the tour makes visible

The tour Crimes Against Humanity and Professional Everyday Life focuses on the business relations of the company Topf & Söhne with the SS and on the question of responsibility in professional actions. Visitors have the opportunity to learn about the history of the company and reflect on the moral dimension of work, technology, and organization in National Socialism. This transforms the examination of the factory into historical analysis and simultaneously into cultural education.

Permanent Exhibition, Location, and Atmosphere

A different kind of art experience is being created at the former company premises at Sorbenweg in Erfurt: an exhibition that does not lure with images of beauty but with the power of evidence. The location itself, the historical administrative building, enhances the exhibition atmosphere and makes the connection between past and present immediately tangible. The barrier-free access to the building, the elevator, and the mobile ramp facilitate access for many visitor groups.

Who will particularly benefit from the visit

This tour is aimed at those interested in art and culture as well as at historically engaged visitors, school classes, groups, and anyone who understands memory culture as a societal task. Those interested in exhibition practices, memorial work, and the communication of complex history will find here an impressive example of authority, research depth, and pedagogical precision.

Conclusion

This free tour offers an intense, educational, and respectful look at a chapter of German history that raises questions about responsibility, civil courage, and professional ethics even today. A visit to the memorial site Topf & Söhne is worthwhile for anyone who wants to experience a demanding exhibition with a lasting impact.