On May 31, 1929, the Bochum police headquarters on Uhlandstraße was officially opened.
With Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, the Bochum police headquarters and the associated authorities also fell to the National Socialists. From 1939, the police - also in the form of a police battalion formed in Bochum - took part in the Second World War and the atrocities of the war of extermination.
On April 10, 1945, just under a month before the unconditional surrender of the German Reich, the Americans moved into Bochum. The city then fell under British occupation, which had to organize the denazification and the slow reconstruction of the police force.
The building in Uhlandstraße is still used today as Bochum's police headquarters.
The Bochum police also makes productive use of its past and has installed a permanent exhibition entitled "Schlaglichter - von Verblendung zu Veränderung" (Highlights - from blindness to change).
This sheds light on the actions of the Bochum police during the Nazi era. It was responsible for the sustained stirring up of fears, the use of violence and the general intimidation of the population. This also included the persecution of political dissidents and groups of people who were considered inferior according to Nazi ideology.
The premise of the exhibition: It is not only important within the police force to look 'backwards' and to look forwards while learning - without raising a moral finger.
The existence of the free democratic basic order and the consistent defense of its values is the guiding principle for the NRW police.
At the same time, the exhibition is an outward sign of the values of the Bochum Police Department. It is open to police training and further training groups as well as external interested parties.
Further information on the topic can be found on our themed page "Police history".