The Nuremberg Trials, which took place before the International Military Tribunal in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice from 1945 to 1949, changed the world forever. They are regarded as a historical milestone, as they were the first time that war crimes and crimes against humanity were prosecuted at an international level. However, it is less well known that there was also an important place in Hamburg that played a key role in the post-war history of Germany and Europe: the CURIO-HAUS in the Rothenbaum district. It was the most important court venue for the war crimes trials in the British occupation zone – the so-called Curiohaus trials.
The CURIO-HAUS: from a house of trials to an event location
From 1945 to 1949, the British Curiohaus trials took place in the CURIO-HAUS, an incisive chapter in Hamburg’s contemporary history. In this significant building on Rothenbaumchaussee, the courts heard more than half of the 329 war crimes trials in the British zone. However, the former House of Trials was built in 1911 by an association of teachers and served as a meeting place for artists and intellectuals in the 1920s. In 1933, it became the property of the Nazi Teachers’ Association. After the war, the British army used the largely undamaged building for trials, while other courts worked in the usual Hamburg court buildings. Once the trials were over, the British Army handed the CURIO-HAUS back to the Teachers’ Association. In 1950, the university moved in with its canteen. Today, the listed building shines in new splendor and serves as a stylish location for cultural events, concerts and functions.
<shortcode data-tag=”smn_responsive_embed” src=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DBi7Em9M5_1/?img_index=1″ type=”instagram” username=”CURIO-HOUSE” 0=”” 1=”class=”x1lliihq” 2=”x1plvlek” 3=”xryxfnj” 4=”x1n2onr6″ 5=”xyejjpt” 6=”x15dsfln” 7=”x193iq5w” 8=”xeuugli” 9=”x1fj9vlw” 10=”x13faqbe” 11=”x1vvkbs” 12=”x1s928wv” 13=”xhkezso” 14=”x1gmr53x” 15=”x1cpjm7i” 16=”x1fgarty” 17=”x1943h6x” 18=”x1i0vuye” 19=”xvs91rp” 20=”x1s688f” 21=”x5n08af” 22=”x10wh9bi” 23=”xpm28yp” 24=”x8viiok” 25=”x1o7cslx”>curiohaus_eventlocation</span>””></shortcode><br /> <h2>Court cases, that changed the world</h2><br /> The <strong>Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1949</strong> before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg are among the most famous in the world. In the early years, it was mainly the <strong>main perpetrators</strong>, such as leading Nazi officials, who were sentenced; in later years, follow-up trials against doctors, lawyers, industrialists and diplomats followed. In addition to the well-known Nuremberg trials, <strong>numerous <strong>other trials took place before military courts</strong> in the occupation zones</strong>. The <strong>Curiohaus trials in Hamburg</strong>, conducted by the British occupying power, tried over 500 Nazi perpetrators during the same period, including numerous people responsible for <strong>crimes in northern Germany</strong>, for example in the Neuengamme and Ravensbrück concentration camps.<br /> <br /> Together, the two series of trials in the 1940s illustrate that the legal <strong>punishment of Nazi crimes</strong> was possible at both international and regional level and thus created the <strong>foundation for today’s international criminal justice</strong>, which ensures appropriate punishments.<br /> <br /> <img class=”alignnone wp-image-6723 size-full” src=”https://offloadmedia.feverup.com/secrethamburg.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/01103713/61_aozmuk.jpg” alt=”Trials” width=”1200″ height=”800″ /><br /> <br /> Do you care about justice? Then test your sense of law and judgment at <shortcode data-tag=”trackLink” link_url=”https://secrethamburg.com/the-jury-experience-hamburg/”>The Jury Experience</shortcode>. In this <strong>interactive live theater game</strong>, you are part of the jury and decide the fate of the defendant(s). Immerse yourself in a real courtroom atmosphere in Hamburg – a city that can look back on a <strong>moving history of justice</strong> with <strong>memorable historical court cases</strong>.