Target site summary: Zimmer Strasse 86–91, Berlin

A plaque erected on the façade of the building informs passers-by that it was originally built in 1886 as a market hall. The rear courtyard was converted in 1910 into a dance hall named Clou. With a capacity of 4,000, it was the largest dance venue in Berlin at the time. In 1927 the Clou began to be used by the Nazis for mass-meetings. Later the complex housed production facilities of the Propaganda Ministry including printing and publishing. The cellars were used by the GeStaPo for interrogations. In 1943 the Clou was used as a collection centre for Jewish slave-labourers evacuated from factories around Berlin to be transported to their deaths. During the war, the concert hall was destroyed. Between 1961 and 1990 the Berlin Wall ran in front of the surviving façade and the building complex was contained within the inaccessible border zone, or ‘death strip’. Since 1990 the site has been colonised by art galleries and other small businesses.

Survey: PR-C-110505 carried out by Anthony Auerbach assisted by Rachel Juris, 11 May 2005, 297 photographs