Bautzen II

Using an innovative scrollytelling approach, visitors can navigate the prison at their own pace through an interactive 3D model of the facility. The tour seamlessly integrates historical documents, photographs, videos, audio recordings, and artifacts, offering an in-depth perspective on the realities of political imprisonment under the SED regime.

🔗 Explore the virtual tour: https://zaubar.com/bautzen-II/

While this online experience does not replace an in-person visit to the memorial, it serves as an engaging introduction and enhances the accessibility of the site’s history. In just 15 minutes, users gain a compelling overview of the prison’s past and its former inmates.

This project was developed in collaboration with the Berlin-based startup Zaubar, known for their innovative AR/VR experiences and their nomination for the 2021 Grimme Online Award.

Team

• Anne-Sophie Panzer

• Stefan Marx

• Marius Kircher

• Tarkan Turan

• Arthur Worbes

• Erika Bosch Ramirez

• Rakesh Patil

• Fabian Mrongowius

My Role

Following the script and the pictures that were taken in Bautzen II, my task was to build and lead the the pathway of the visitor from the overview of the Building, zooming into the transportation vehicle of the prisoner, straight into the hallways of the prison into his prison cell, where he is being spied on by a little microphone built into the Wall. The camera then zooms into the wiretap into the interrogation room where the Stasi was hearing everything the prisoner said.

The General Art direction I have built was with Rhino 7. The People from Bautzen II liked the looks and after a few corrections we went into the production.

Exactly 65 years ago since this webtour was published, the first prisoner was brought to Bautzen II. In this immersive webtour users are able to follow the path of former inmates into the prison, listen to eyewitness accounts and experience the inside of a real GDR prison for political prisoners.