When does the tour take place?

The public tour takes place on 31.05.2026 from 15:00 to 17:00.

Is the event free of charge?

Yes, the tour is free of charge.

Where does the tour take place?

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

Is the exhibition suitable for an indoor visit?

Yes, it is an internal exhibition and learning offering at the memorial site.

Are there accessibility guidelines?

The memorial site offers inclusive mediation offers and information in easy language. For details, the official website is recommended.

How long does the tour last?

The indicated duration is two hours.

Topf & Söhne Erfurt 2026

Name: Crimes Against Humanity and Professional Life – Topf & Söhne and the Business Relations with the SS
Start: 2026-05-31T17:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-05-31T19:00:00+02:00
Location: Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne

Crimes Against Humanity and Professional Life: A Tour That Clearly Makes History

The memorial site Topf & Söhne in Erfurt invites you to a public tour of the permanent exhibition Technicians of the 'Final Solution'. Topf & Söhne – The Oven Builders of Auschwitz. The central question is the chilling relationship between technical skill, commercial routine, and everyday professional life in the industrial extermination of the Holocaust. The tour offers an intense artistic experience of historical nature: sober documents, architectural clarity, and precise curation coalesce into an exhibition that does not decorate, but educates.

A Place of Historical Responsibility

The memorial site is considered a unique historical location in Europe because it makes visible the complicity of private business in the Nazi crimes against humanity on the former company grounds of J. A. Topf & Söhne. Key documents, archival materials, and testimonies from the company's history illuminate the business relations with the SS and demonstrate how technological development was employed in the service of terror. The exhibition connects historical research with cultural education, thereby creating a space for intense contemplation of works – not of art in the classical sense, but of evidenced history as a moral experience.

Tour, Education, and Mediation

The public tour on May 31, 2026, is aimed at visitors looking for insights into the company's history, the role of technology, and responsibility in everyday professional life. The memorial site functions as a historically-political learning environment with a clear mediation objective: It questions the boundary between professional ethics, complicity, and scope for action. This makes the visit particularly valuable for people interested in art and culture who understand exhibition culture as a form of aesthetic and ethical insight.

Exhibition Atmosphere and Visitor Experience

The atmosphere is calm, focused, and respectful. No effects distract from the content; instead, a dense, factual presence arises through light, space, and documents. This reduction gives the permanent exhibition its power. Those who engage in the tour experience a profound engagement with memory culture, industrial history, and the mechanisms of organized violence. The result is not an easy museum visit, but a lasting, enlightening artistic experience of a unique kind.

Conclusion

This tour makes history tangible, precise, emphatic, and unforgettable. Visitors can expect a free public tour at a central location of German memory culture that connects historical education with ethical reflection. Anyone visiting Erfurt and interested in exhibitions with depth should definitely experience this event live.