What is Topography of Terror?
{{Infobox building | name = Topography of Terror | native_name = Topographie des Terrors | image = Topographie des Terrors Aerial view.JPG | caption = The new building of the Topography of Terror Foundation, 2010 | address = Niederkirchnerstraße 8, 10963 Berlin, Germany | coordinates = 52°30′25″N 13°22′58″E{{coord|52|30|25|N|13|22|58|E|region:DE-BE_type:landmark|display=title}} | website = https://www.topographie.de/en/topography-of-terror/ }} The '''Topography of Terror''' ([[German language|German]]: ''Topographie des Terrors'') is a history museum in [[Berlin]], Germany. It is both indoors and outdoors. More than one million people visit the museum each year. It is the most visited museum in Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Welle (www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche|title=Top 10: The most visited museums in Berlin {{!}} DW {{!}} 30.08.2019|url=https://www.dw.com/en/top-10-the-most-visited-museums-in-berlin/g-50128166|access-date=2022-06-18|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB}}</ref> == History == === 1945-1990 === The buildings that were the headquarters of the SS and Gestapo were destroyed in 1945. For several decades, these buildings were somewhat forgotten. The location was a dump site. [[East Germany]] built the Berlin Wall in 1961 that went along the Niederkirchnerstrasse. The site was in East Germany and next to the wall. Dieter Hoffmann-Axthelm wrote about the importance of the site in 1978. However, the first exhibit on the destroyed buildings would only be in 1987. Excavators and researchers found a Gestapo prison cell, where prisoners had been tortured and killed. They decided to make a museum out of the site. They formed an exhibition in East Germany in 1989. After reunification, the city kept the part of the wall next to the site. === After Reunification === In 1992, further plans were to improve the site and create a building. There was an architectural competition, and Peter Zumthor won it. There was not enough money, so construction stopped. The city destroyed the structure and started a new building in 2004.