The Border Documentation Centre (GDS) has been in existence since 2004 in Schlutup, a former fishing village on the eastern edge of Lübeck. It was primarily set up by an association of Schlutup residents and former East and West German border guards.

Schlutup and Selmsdorf (on the GDR side) formed the northernmost border crossing on the inner-German border. After reunification in 1990, a barracks that had housed both the Federal Border Guard and the Federal Customs Service became the only original border structure remaining. Following several attempts, it became the permanent location of the documentation and memorial site for the division of Germany in 2004.

To professionally develop the extensive GDS collection, handed over to the city of Lübeck by the association at the end of 2024, Facts & Files was commissioned to evaluate and inventory it. This work will be completed by October 2025 and will form the basis of a new exhibition concept.