Bautzen Prisons & Gedenkstätte

It seems incongruous that this pretty and historic town has been known as Gefängnisstadt (prison town) for over a century. The first facility, Bautzen I, a yellow brick structure from 1904, gained such notoriety under the Nazis and later the Soviets that it earned the moniker Gelbes Elend (Yellow Misery). Completely modernised, it's still used as a correctional facility today.

South of town is Bautzen II, which became a Stasi prison in GDR times. Many famous regime opponents - including Rudolf Bahro, who later co-founded the Green Party in West Germany - served their sentences here. Today, it's a Gedenkstätte (memorial site) for the victims of political oppression.