The Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation is a unique place of learning and remembrance in Germany on the subject of displacement, expulsion and forced migration in the past and present. We see ourselves as a place of historical education and lively debate in the spirit of reconciliation. The documentation centre offers space for exhibitions, a library and archive of contemporary witnesses, education and mediation, events, a quiet room for contemplation, a shop and a restaurant.

The Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation shows a permanent exhibition on displacementand expulsion and forced migration, especially in the 20th century in Europe, and also shows thematic special exhibitions. It includes a library and a contemporary witness archive for reading, researching and browsing. You can expect a wide range of educational and mediation programmes, events, a quiet room to pause for a moment and a restaurant.

You can find more information about our offers here.

In all areas, we focus on formats that break down barriers and offer benefits for as many visitors as possible. This includes a guidance system for blind and sighted people, exhibits that can be perceived with multiple senses, the audio guide and explanatory films in simple language, videos in German sign language and barrier-free educational programmes.

The entire documentation centre is barrier-free. All public rooms are accessible via a wheelchair-accessible lift.

Detailed information on accessibility can be found here.

The Foundation for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation is the sponsor of the Documentation Centre. It is a foundation under public law and is funded by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media. As a dependent foundation, it is sponsored by the German Historical Museum Foundation.

The Foundation for Displacement, Expulsion and Reconciliation was established by the German Bundestag in 2008. As early as 2005, the three governing parties at the time, the CDU, CSU and SPD, committed themselves in their coalition agreement "to the social and historical reappraisal of forced migration, flight and expulsion" and decided "in the spirit of reconciliation [...] to set a visible sign" in Berlin "to [...] remember the injustice of expulsions and to outlaw expulsion forever."

The purpose of the foundation is to keep alive the memory and commemoration of flight and expulsion in the 20th century in the historical context of the Second World War and the National Socialist policy of expansion and extermination and its consequences in the spirit of reconciliation.

The main task of the foundation is the realisation and operation of a documentation centre in Berlin.

The foundation is non-partisan. Members of various parties and organisations are represented on the Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees consists of 21 members, 19 of whom are elected by the Bundestag every five years. These include representatives of the German Bundestag, the Federal Government, the Federation of Expellees, the Protestant and Catholic churches and the Central Council of Jews. The President of the German Historical Museum Foundation and the President of the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Foundation are members by virtue of their office.

Further information on the foundation's committees can be found here.

No, there is no direct connection between the Foundation and the Association of Expellees (BdV). However, in accordance with the Foundation Act, the Association of Expellees delegates six of a total of 21 members to the Foundation Board and the BdV's office in the capital is located in the immediate vicinity of the Documentation Centre, in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

No, there is no connection between the Foundation and the Centre against Expulsions. The Centre against Expulsions is an institution of the Federation of Expellees (BdV). The Foundation for Displacement, Expulsion and Reconciliation is a non-partisan federal foundation.

No, there is no connection between the foundation and the former president of the Federation of Expellees, Erika Steinbach.

Audiovisual, biographical interviews have been conducted for the digital contemporary witness archive since 2013. To date, numerous people from different regions have reported on their individual experiences of displacement, loss of home and new beginnings. The effects on subsequent generations are also taken into account through interviews with the descendants of displaced persons.

The foundation also collects testimonies and first-person documents from Germany and Europe.

Videos, audio documents, writings and documents are accessible to the public in the documentation centre. This offer is aimed at all interested parties, especially national and international researchers.

For more information on the interview project or to send us written testimonies, please contact geschichten@f-v-v.de or call us on +49 30 206 29 98-0.