NO PRISON

Theatre, concerts, films, discussions, the Festival Centre in prison: the former prison Rennelberg opens its doors to the public for the first time

A look inside a prison says a lot about a society and its injustices. Who is imprisoned and what for? During the Nazi regime, Rennelberg Prison was an instrument for breaking political resistance. Today, too, authoritarian states all over the world use prisons as ways to maintain their power. But in liberal societies too, people question whether prisons can really bring about justice. 

Theaterformen Festival will be opening the doors of Rennelberg Prison to the public for the first time and will interweave the history of the City of Braunschweig with the perspectives of international artists on injustice and state violence. New, site-specific performances by Harald Beharie, Nicoleta Esinencu / teatru-spălătorie, LASTESIS, Sonya Lindfors & Maryan Abdulkarim and Public Movement will be created especially for the festival.  

The Festival Centre will provide a space to debate, relax with a drink in the sun and dance in defiance of the violence of the architecture at the Silent Discos.

Rennelberg Prison, which is no longer a functioning prison, but has not yet been taken over by the investment sector, will open up as a space of possibility for a brief period. NO PRISON invites you to come together in this place of isolation and exclusion and to experience community and art in precisely such a place. 

History of the Rennelberg Correctional Facility

The new Braunschweig District and Remand Prison was built near Braunschweig’s city center between 1884 and 1885. In the later Federal Republic of Germany, the facility was renamed the Braunschweig Correctional Facility (*Justizvollzugsanstalt Braunschweig*). Colloquially, it is also known as JVA Rennelberg or the Rennelberg Prison.

The prison was originally intended to replace the city’s outdated detention facilities, which were structurally obsolete, overcrowded, or inadequate in terms of security. The new building aimed to consolidate remand detention, the serving of short-term sentences, and detention ordered by the local court under one roof, rather than distributing these functions across many different locations as had previously been the practice. The Braunschweig District and Remand Prison was constructed according to the new standards associated with the penal reform movement of the 1880s and 1890s (featuring a cruciform layout, individual cells, and improved use of natural light) and originally accommodated 296 prisoners in 166 cells (276 men and 20 women). As the central women's prison for the Free State of Braunschweig, the facility held a key position within the penal system.

During the National Socialist era, political opponents and individuals marginalized or persecuted by the regime were imprisoned at the Braunschweig District and Remand Prison as a result of Nazi legislation and judicial practices. Consequently, the prison suffered from severe overcrowding.

Furthermore, the National Socialists introduced so-called "protective custody" (*Schutzhaft*), a measure under which the Gestapo and the Criminal Police arrested individuals – without trial or formal charges – and detained them to "protect" the population from them. Such detention was carried out without the presentation of evidence or judicial proceedings and could be extended indefinitely. In the Braunschweig district and remand prison alone, at least 500 people were held in so-called protective custody.
 

Inmates

Among the most prominent inmates were the former Mayor of Braunschweig, Ernst Böhme, and the former Minister-President, Heinrich Jasper; the latter was initially released but was later murdered in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp following a second arrest in February 1945.

The Braunschweig District and Remand Prison served as the central women's detention facility for the State of Braunschweig and was thus a key site of the persecution of female prisoners – such as 19-year-old Erna Wazinski, who was later executed at Wolfenbüttel Penitentiary following a forced confession.

Liberation

On April 12, 1945, around 900 prisoners were liberated by American troops. Following the liberation in 1945, numerous Nazi officials were held in the Braunschweig prison, including Dietrich Klagges, the National Socialist Minister-President of the Free State of Braunschweig. In the early post-war years, the facility also housed individuals awaiting denazification or criminal proceedings. At least one prominent prisoner – SS officer Hans-Walter Zech-Nenntwich – managed to escape in 1964 with the help of an extensive network of supporters both inside and outside the institution.
 

Closure and Sale

The Braunschweig Correctional Facility, a facility of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice, was closed in 2024; reasons included serious structural defects, outdated security standards, and a widely publicized incident in which six fellow inmates repeatedly and violently assaulted a 17-year-old detainee held in pre-trial custody. The closure followed decades of criticism regarding staff shortages, inadequate security technology, and the progressive deterioration of the buildings – the condition of which had been considered problematic since the late 20th century.

In May 2024, the remaining 44 inmates were transferred to the Wolfenbüttel correctional facility. Given the prison's documented significance regarding Nazi-era persecution, there are ongoing discussions about preserving parts of the site as a memorial. In September 2025, the buildings on the property – spanning more than 13,000 square meters – were offered for sale for 3.6 million euros. According to the terms of sale, potential future uses for the site include hospitality, cultural projects, and residential development.