Memorial Plate Main Headquarters of the Gestapo

Between 1938 and 1945, the Klagenfurt Castle served as the main headquarters of the Secret State Police (Gestapo) for the Carinthia region. It was a place of interrogation, torture, and detention for thousands of people who were imprisoned by the Gestapo due to their worldview, ethnic affiliation, or resistance activities. For many victims, it was a transit station to concentration camps or to the courts of the NS judiciary.
In May 2015, after long-standing demands for a memorial plaque, a commemorative plaque was installed on the inner wall next to the western entrance to the castle courtyard. The black, circular plaque emerged as the winning project from a competition organized by the Carinthia region and was designed by Melitta Moschik. The bilingual plaque, inscribed in German and Slovene, with a diameter of 150 centimeters, symbolizes both a target and a prohibition sign.