Gedenkstätte Lindenstrasse

We are surrounded by objects, artifacts used in our everyday lives. Even the most quotidian object can elicit memories of the time and space in which it was used (Frykman & Povrzanović Frykman, 2016). We can remember through objects, because they are material social facts (Durkheim, 1982).

In war times, this is not different.

Between 1945 and 1989, the Gedenkstätte Lindenstraße complex served as a prison. Located in the center of Potsdam, Germany, during the Cold War this space concentrated prisoners charged of different crimes, primarily persecuted by the State for political reasons (Schnell, 2007). Since 1995, the complex has worked as a site museum.

Distributed inside the main building, the cells in which the prisoners were allocated were small. Their everyday life was frugal, and their belongings were limited to one bed, a few blankets and a shared sink.

A bed. A LEGO sequence. (Bianca Ramírez)

The dimensions of the cell and the compressed surroundings of its inhabitants can be seen. Occupying the most prominent space is the bed, an object that elicits the frugality of the everyday life of the prisoners that were detained here.

Normal cell. (asien-info.net)