New First Floor | New First Floor

NEW FIRST FLOOR. LEARNING, RESEARCHING, REFLECTING

Most visitors associate the House of the Wannsee Conference with our permanent exhibition, ‘The Meeting at Wannsee and the Murder of the European Jews’, presented on the ground floor of the villa. The Joseph Wulf Library on the first floor is less well-known, and yet it is one of the most important specialised libraries on the Shoah and National Socialism.

Our plan to redesign the New First Floor will create an inclusive place of learning and reflection where history and the present can be examined and the future shaped. We aim to create more space in our library, which is currently too small for our needs, and to make its valuable holdings more accessible.

We need your support to realise this project!

A THIRD PLACE

The core of the new concept is a ‘super shelf’ that extends across the entire upper level and serves as the centrepiece of the New First Floor. The library will become a third space with additional open, multifunctional rooms and interactive digital facilities that encourage visitors to learn, research and reflect, as well as to linger and exchange ideas – a meeting place that offers new perspectives.

The New First Floor will open our spaces at this historic site to the public even more. Especially in these politically challenging times, we see this as an activating contribution to a culture of remembrance that - like these spaces - is open, diverse and democratic.

Deborah Hartmann,
Director of the House of the Wannsee Conference - a memorial and educational site

With our design for the New First Floor, we hope that visitors will view the world from new perspectives. That’s why we chose an open, accessible and informal approach.

Aat Vos,
includi

YOUR QUESTIONS – OUR ANSWERS

The House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site values dialogue – we are eager to engage in an exchange of ideas with you.

Find out here why we are renovating, why we need your support, and how we will use your donation. Working with you, we hope to create a forward-looking remembrance site.

Why are we renovating?

The purpose of renovating the first floor of the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site is to enlarge the Joseph Wulf Library and create an open space for learning, exchange and reflection. With new multifunctional rooms for media work, research and meetings, the New First Floor will become an integral part of the work of the Memorial and Educational Site. The concept combines history and the present, promotes knowledge and strengthens a diverse, democratic culture of remembrance.

Why do we need your support?

The regular work of the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site is jointly funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. We rely on additional funding and donations for all other projects, including our renovation plans for the New First Floor.

How will we use your donation?

We developed the design concept for the New First Floor during workshops with the Dutch architectural firm includi and its artistic director, Aat Vos. The next phase entails further developing the content design of the new multifunctional rooms: the ‘super shelf’, which will hold a large part of our library holdings, and the New First Floor, which will be participatory and inclusive. At versatile new digital educational stations, visitors can explore historical topics interactively and tangibly, such as Joseph Wulf’s unsuccessful attempt to establish an international documentation centre in the 1960s or the history of the building and its surrounding neighbourhood. Your donation will help us plan and design a sustainable, modern New First Floor.

Your donation opens up new perspectives!

Your donation will help us make the New First Floor a reality. Every contribution counts.

Your donation for remembrance

Complemented by open spaces with interactive digital offerings, a ‘third place’ is created: a space that invites visitors to linger, immerse themselves and exchange ideas – a meeting place that helps to open up new perspectives on the world.

Do you have any questions or suggestions?

Open spaces with interactive digital offerings create a ‘third place’: an area where visitors can linger, immerse themselves and exchange ideas – a meeting place that helps open new perspectives on the world.

You would like to send your donation as a money transfer?

Please send the donation to our sponsor organisation:

Erinnern für die Zukunft e.V.
IBAN: DE85 1004 0000 0446 0200 00
BIC: COBADEFFXXX
Commerzbank Berlin
Purpose: "New First Floor"

Your donation receipt

Our sponsor association ‘Erinnern für die Zukunft’ (Remembering for the Future) is a non-profit organisation, which means you can claim your donation on your tax return. For donations up to and including €300, your bank statement serves as proof of donation for the tax office. For larger amounts, we will send you a donation receipt. Please provide your address on the transfer form.