The Zwinger in the

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

n city of

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

is part of the old city fortifications from the

Early Modern Period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

. In the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

it was both a

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...

and a

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

place of execution and was heavily damaged by allied air raids. Since its conversion to a memorial the Zwinger has belonged to the Münster City Museum (''Stadtmuseum Münster'') and is home to the sculpture ''Das gegenläufige Konzert''.

References

* Rebecca Horn: ''Der Zwinger in Münster''. W. König Verlag, * Max Geisberg: ''Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler von Westfalen'', Vol. 41: Die Stadt Münster Teil 1: Die Ansichten und Pläne, Grundlage und Entwicklung, die Befestigungen, die Residenzen der Bischöfe. Aschendorff, Münster, 1976, * Barbara Rommé (ed.): ''Der Zwinger : Bollwerk, Kunstwerk, Mahnmal''. Aschendorff, Münster, 2007,

External links

Panorama (with sound of the metal hammers)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwinger (Munster) Heritage sites in North Rhine-Westphalia City walls in Germany Commemoration of Nazi crimes Culture in Münster