The Final Solution – The Wannsee Conference at Villa Marlier, Berlin


Villa Marlier of the Wannsee Conference lakeside view Wannsee Berlin
Villa Marlier of the Wannsee Conference lakeside view – Wannsee, Berlin

When you get tired of walking around through Berlin’s busy streets, you may want to escape the city and travel to the outskirts in search of some peace and quiet. Then the Berlin suburb of Wannsee is just that place you are looking for, with it’s rich green surroundings and beautiful villa’s scattered along the lake. It is the perfect place to unwind and less than an hour away by public transport. It won’t surprise you that the area is very popular as a summer retreat among the Berliners themselves too.

House of the Wannsee Conference lakeside
House of the Wannsee Conference lakeside

Acquiring Villa Marlier

Facade of Villa Marlier at Wannsee Berlin
Facade of Villa Marlier at Wannsee, Berlin
Portrait of Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich (picture courtesy of Wikimedia)

Starting from the mid 1930’s, the Wannsee atmosphere had the same attraction to the prominent members of the Nazi Party too. With their rise to power, the amount of property they (dis)owned in the Wannsee district grew considerably. This was also the case for Villa Marlier, situated along the shore of lake “Gross Wannsee”.

In 1940, the former owner of the villa , Mr. Friedrich Minoux was convicted and jailed for a large fraude case, and reluctantly sold the house for 1.98 million RM to Stiftung Nordhav, a foundation founded by SS prominent Reinhard Heydrich to acquire real estate for the benefit of rest and recreation for fellow SS and SP members.
Subsequently the villa became an important center of operations for the SS and Heinrich Himmler’s Reich Main Security Office or RSHA.

On January 8th 1942, Reinhard Heydrich would eventually choose this location to host the Wannsee Conference.

The Wannsee Conference

Wannsee Conference Room Berlin
The infamous Wannsee Conference Room. The table in the center holds the so called “minutes” documents which are part of the Wannsee Protocol.

On the 20th of January 1942, Reinhard Heydrich addressed a group of 15 men of whom prominent members of the NSDAP and important government officials in the infamous Wannsee Conference Room, with the aim to secure their support and conclude a final solution of the ‘Jewish question’. In the 90 minutes this conference lasted, the ill fate of millions would be decided and sealed.
The conclusion of the meeting was formally put in an infamous document by Adolf Eichmann, known as the “Wannsee Protocol”. Even though most of the copies of this document were destroyed at the end of the war, a copy was discovered by a US prosecutor during the Nuremberg Trails.

The fifteen attendants of the Wannsee Conference
The fifteen attendants of the Wannsee Conference

Holocaust Memorial and Museum

Exactly fifty years later, the villa was turned into a holocaust memorial and museum, with a permanent exhibition on the planning and execution of the holocaust. With pictures, documents and information signs, the museum tries to outline specific personal stories from all sides.

Information on display at House Wannsee
Information on display at House Wannsee
Leni Riefenstahl
While filming a Wehrmacht Unit, German propaganda film maker Leni Riefenstahl (woman in center) is witness to the shooting of unarmed civilians
Katrin Himmler about her confrontation with her family past
Katrin Himmler about her confrontation with her family past

Visit Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz

If you are interested in the events of World War II and the holocaust, then this is an obligatory visit. Although we do point out that there is nothing left of the original setting of the place in 1942. The museum is freely admissible and open every day during office hours. Visit the museum website for more information.


2 thoughts on “The Final Solution – The Wannsee Conference at Villa Marlier, Berlin

Absolutely fascinating. Superb photos. What a dark “Vision” of the pat one conjures up in one’s mind when you heart the name of this lake and house. What an awful villain and despot was Heidrich!!!

Berlinergrl on

I believe this became the Berlin Brigades outdoor recreation center during the occupation. I remember swimming in the pool out back and renting paddle boats from a small marina.

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