Ładowanie mapy…
Hoheneck Castle in Stollberg, in the Saxon Ore Mountains, is one of Central Europe's most significant memorial sites — a place where history weighs heavily and every stone tells a story of resilience. For over 130 years it served as a prison, and since 2024 it has been an official memorial to the victims of political persecution in East Germany.
The imposing four-winged complex sits on a hill overlooking the town of Stollberg, its austere prison architecture forming a striking contrast with the gentle rolling hills of the Erzgebirge surrounding it. In autumn the wooded slopes glow gold around the grey walls; in winter a quiet stillness settles over the site. The atmosphere is sombre and contemplative throughout the year — this is a place that invites reflection rather than leisure.
Hoheneck was the central women's prison of the GDR. Around 24,000 women passed through its cells, approximately 8,000 of them political prisoners. The term 'Hoheneckerinnen' became a symbol of women persecuted by the SED regime. The memorial was officially opened on 11 July 2024 by German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, giving the site the recognition it long deserved.
How to get thereA sobering detail: as late as 1987, inmates were forced to produce tights here under prison labour conditions — items that were then sold to Western retailers for just 69 pfennigs each, a fact now documented in the permanent exhibition.
