CRIMINAL MINDS – The Serial Killer Exhibition

In numerous rooms, forensic evidence is combined with walk-through crime scenes, lighting, sound and a continuous audio guide. The true-crime exhibition, lasting around 90 minutes, will be on display for a limited time from 9 December 2026.

From the crime scene to the perpetrators’ homes

Case files, evidence and a crime scene set the scene. In the mirrored corridor, busts of notorious perpetrators face the empty pedestals of their victims. In a staged woodland clearing, visitors can see how investigators analyse clues. In the post-mortem room, forensic medicine demonstrates what injuries can reveal about the course of a crime. Individual findings are linked to form connections between crimes, until a pattern emerges. The systems used by researchers and the police to categorise perpetrators, and their limitations, are also presented.

From the clues, the trail leads to flats, houses and cellars that perpetrators set up for their violent fantasies, often long before anyone died there. The reconstructed crime scenes include Jeffrey Dahmer’s kitchen, the altar he planned, and Ed Gein’s farmhouse. Objects illustrate how Dennis Rader, known as BTK, relived his crimes in his mind for years. A total of 44 perpetrators are named, and around 25 cases are recounted in detail, including those of the German serial killers Fritz Honka, Niels Högel and Gesche Gottfried.

Separate rooms focus on women as perpetrators, killings in hospitals and care homes, international cases, as well as cannibalism and its cultural contexts. ‘Origin Stories’ traces the perpetrators’ childhoods and examines the role played by family, school, institutions and social environment in the development of future serial killers. An optical illusion allows visitors to experience the perpetrators’ distorted perception in a spatial context.

Alongside forensic exhibits, the exhibition features reproductions, reconstructions and staged objects. The audio guide links the various stations to form a continuous narrative. Different voices provide forensic and historical perspectives.

Traces of a Life

At the entrance, all visitors receive a personalised ‘Traces of a Life’ map. It traces the story of a person who fell victim to a serial killer. From room to room, relationships, places and experiences are added until a picture of that life emerges. The map leads to a separate room that illustrates the far-reaching consequences of a crime: for relatives, survivors, witnesses and investigators.

In the final room, ‘Afterburn’, the fascination with serial murder itself becomes the subject. Art, film and the media draw on real-life crimes and shape the images that remain of them. The conclusion explores how myths arise from this and why the names of the perpetrators are often better known than those of their victims.

Case analysis from real-life practice Criminal investigator and profiler Axel Petermann acts as an expert on the creative team for ‘CRIMINAL MINDS’. The former head of a Bremen homicide squad and the ‘Operational Case Analysis’ unit contributes his investigative expertise on how violent fantasies can manifest themselves in evidence, locations and actions.

The dramaturgy of the staged spaces

Creative Director Dr Andy Machals is responsible for the idea, concept, design and dramaturgy. Together with the design team, he translates the content into architecture, lighting, sound and visual media. “‘CRIMINAL MINDS’ tells a coherent story: from fantasies and distorted perceptions, through the reality of the crimes, to the people affected by them,” emphasises Machals. Producer Oliver Forster adds: “Behind every crime are people with lives of their own. Our aim is to bring their stories to life whilst at the same time providing a clear understanding of the background to the violence.”

PRODUCER & LOCAL ORGANISER

COFO Entertainment, Passau

With several hundred events a year, COFO Entertainment is one of the leading event organisers in the German-speaking world. Its wide-ranging portfolio extends from concerts to musicals, shows and comedy, right through to family entertainment. COFO also regularly stages events at various venues in Berlin – in 2027, for example, with ‘BEAT IT! – The hit show about the King of Pop!’ or ‘ROCKET MAN – The Elton John Biopic’.

The international exhibition business, in particular, is an important and steadily growing part of COFO’s diverse offering. The company’s successful entry into this sector was marked in 2013 by the exhibition on the world-famous Terracotta Army and the First Emperor of China in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. This was followed by blockbuster exhibitions such as “Tutankhamun – His Tomb and Treasures”, “Da Vinci – The Genius”, “Body Worlds” and “Titanic – Real Artefacts, True Stories”, which were presented throughout the German-speaking world.

EXHIBITION INFORMATION

• Exhibition dates: 9 December 2026 to 4 April 2027
• Opening hours: Tue–Sun & public holidays: 11.00–19.00
• (Open daily during the school holidays)
• Opening times may vary on public holidays.
• Venue: ARENA BERLIN, Eichenstraße 4, 12435 Berlin