Britannia Centre Spandau Rudolf Hess. Five weeks after the death of Hess on 17 August 1987 at 1610 hours, the demolition of Spandau Prison began and was completed on 4 November 1987. In May 1988 the construction of the new facility started and was finished on 18 September 1990. The name "Britannia Centre" was chosen by competition from over 40 entries. The shopping center was also nicknamed "Hessco's" after the well known British supermarket chain, Tesco, and the prison's final occupant. After the Berlin Infantry Brigade was dissolved in mid-1994 the Britannia Centre Spandau lost its name and became the only unnamed shopping
Spandau Prison which housed hundreds of former officers and other lower-ranking Nazi men who were under a comparatively lax regime. Western commentators accused the Russians of keeping Spandau prison in operation chiefly as a centre for Soviet espionage operations. Every day, prisoners were ordered to rise at 06:00 hours, wash, clean their cells and the corridor together, eat breakfast, stay in the garden until lunch-time at noon (weather permitting), have a post-lunch rest in their cells, then return to the garden. Supper followed at 17:00 hours, after which the prisoners were returned to their cells. Lights out was at 22:00 hours. Prisoners