Various aspects relate to a destructive read out operation to read out a memory state of a remanent polarizable capacitive memory element. The destructive read out operation may include causing a voltage drop sequence over the remanent polarizable capacitive memory element, wherein the voltage drop sequence includes one or more voltage drops of a first polarity and one or more voltage drops of a second polarity opposite the first polarity. In some aspects, the destructive read out operation is configured as a bipolar read out operation to determine the memory state of the remanent polarizable capacitive memory element based on an electrical behavior of the remanent polarizable capacitive memory element during the voltage drop sequence.