The Documentation Center Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation was opened in June 2021 as a unique place of learning and remembrance on the subject of flight, expulsion and forced migration, especially in the 20th century in Europe and beyond. On more than 5,000 square meters, it offers a permanent exhibition, thematic special exhibitions, educational and mediation offers as well as events. The documentation center also houses a library with an archive of contemporary witnesses. Admission is free.

Permanent exhibition. The century of flight
Why do people have to flee or are displaced? What do people who have to flee or are displaced experience? What experiences do they have along the way? What does the loss of their homeland mean and what difficulties do people face when they find refuge in another country?
The permanent exhibition sheds light on politically, ethnically and religiously motivated forced migrations in the 20th century in Europe and beyond. The focus of the presentation is on the flight and expulsion of Germans during and after the Second World War, which began in Germany.

A European history of forced migrations
The first part of our permanent exhibition deals with the dimensions of flight, expulsion and forced migration from a European perspective. Examples from different geographical contexts show recurring phenomena that form a basis for understanding forced migration in the 20th century and beyond.
Expulsions are a phenomenon of modernity and have reached a new order of magnitude since the end of the 19th century. Whether over 100 years ago in Armenia, after the Second World War in Central Europe or today in Syria - wars and armed conflicts force millions of people to leave their homes. Forced migrations mean great danger and painful losses. The experience of flight and displacement fundamentally changes the lives of those affected. Loss and new beginnings often leave their mark on those affected and their descendants for generations.

Permanent exhibition Special exhibition © Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung, Photo: Markus Gröteke

Permanent exhibition © Foundation Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation, Photo: Markus Gröteke

Flight and expulsion of the Germans
The second part of the permanent exhibition on the second floor deals with the flight and expulsion of Germans.
During the Second World War, National Socialist Germany occupied large parts of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and waged an unprecedented and cruel war of extermination. Millions of people were exploited, deported, expelled and murdered. Against this backdrop, the Allies decide on a post-war order for Europe that provides for border changes and population displacements. In the final months of the war, millions of Germans flee westwards to escape the Red Army. Most of the people living in the eastern territories of the German Reich and in central and south-eastern Europe are displaced after the end of the war. In total, more than 14 million people were affected by flight and expulsion, and more than 600,000 people lost their lives. The integration of 12.5 million displaced people is a fundamental challenge for both German post-war societies. The political conditions for this differ in the two German states. The memory of flight and expulsion remains controversial.

Special exhibition: Textile Memories
This gallery exhibition focuses on the textile installation by Russian-born artist Varvara Keidan Shavrova, who lives in England and Ireland. Eight screen-printed felt blankets show motifs from her family album. It is a social and performative installation. You can touch the blankets or place them around your shoulders.
The artwork is juxtaposed with historical objects from the Documentation Center's collection: A tablecloth from East Prussia, a bedspread from Bohemia and a tablecloth from Brandenburg. Textiles such as blankets, tablecloths, handkerchiefs, traditional costumes, coats, cloaks, scarves and throws bear touching witness to difficult experiences and are relics of suffering and deprivation. They represent the deeply human desire to connect with something warm, familiar and familiar and to counteract the painful feeling of loss of home, loneliness and uprootedness. Experiences that millions of refugees, displaced persons and emigrants share and to whom Varvara Keidan Shavrova's work is addressed.
Until November 16, 2025

Special exhibition: The trek
From January 1945, shortly before the end of the war, countless people fled westwards from the advancing front. No refugee trek is better documented photographically than the one from Lübchen (now Lubów) in Lower Silesia - captured in impressive photographs by Hanns Tschira and Martha Maria Schmackeit.
This unique collection of photographs is being shown in its entirety for the first time in an exhibition at the Documentation Center Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation. The presentation provides insights into the moving story of an escape and the creation of the images.
June 20, 2025 to January 18, 2026