Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Oranienburg, Berlin

sachesenhausen oranienburgh concentration camp berlin

Concentration camp near Berlin

Visiting anywhere in Europe brings you near to remains of World War Two.  In Germany, these sites are generally named “Gedenksätte” – memorials, and they are free to visit.

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlinLocation

Around 22 miles outside of Berlin is Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg concentration camp. This is the nearest Nazi concentration camp to Germany’s capital city, which operated from 1936 to 1945 and housed mostly political prisoners.

The site became an NKVD special camp (NKVD means Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs which was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union after the war when the area came under Soviet control.

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlinHistory

The camp was a training centre for Schutzstaffel (SS) officers. These officers would be trained at Sachsenhausen and then transferred to other locations. About 200,000 people passed through Sachsenhausen between 1936 and 1945 with 105,000 who are believed to have perished here.

sachesenhausen oranienburgh concentration camp berlin

As the Soviet army advanced, around 30,000 inmates of the camp were ordered to take part in a death march. The march ended near Raben Steinfeld when 18,000 remaining prisoners were liberated by tanks of the 2nd Belorussian Front. On 22 April 1945 the camp’s remaining 3,000 inmates were liberated by the Red Army and the Polish Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlinAfter the war

Soviet Special Camp No. 1 was the new name for Sachsenhausen in 1948 as political prisoners and those involved in Soviet Military Tribunals were the new inhabitants of the camp.

The camp closed in 1950.

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin
Red triangle signifies political prisoner

Memorial site

The”Sachsenhausen National Memorial Site” came into being on 23rd April 1961. The East German government constructed an obelisk decorated with eighteen red triangles, the symbol the Nazis gave to political prisoners, usually communists.

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin
Neutral Zone, immediate firing without warning.

sachesenhausen oranienburgh concentration camp berlin
Pathology, dissection and morgue

sachesenhausen oranienburgh concentration camp berlin

sachesenhausen oranienburgh concentration camp berlin

Visit Gleis 17 for more WWII history

gleis 17 platform 17 berlin

Where

Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum
Straße der Nationen 22
D-16515 Oranienburg

Get there

Travel information (from Berlin city centre):

The memorial site  is very close to Berlin and easy to visit by public transport.

Oranienburg Station is in Zone C, so you will need a ticket which covers this zone as well as A & B.

S-Bahn route S 1 (Wannsee – Oranienburg) to Oranienburg Station (travel time from Berlin Friedrichstrasse 45 min., runs every 20 minutes).

Regional train RE 5 (Stralsund/Rostock – Neustrelitz – Wünsdorf-Waldstadt/Elsterwerda) to Oranienburg Station (travel time from Berlin Main Station (Hauptbahnhof) 25 minutes, runs hourly).

Regional train RB 12 from Berlin-Lichtenberg and Berlin-Ostkreuz (destination Templin) to Oranienburg Station (travel time 25 minutes, runs hourly).

Regional train RB 20 from Potsdam to Oranienburg Station.

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin

From the station, bus no. 804 or bus no. 821 to the stop “Gedenkstätte”.

When

15th March to 14th October
daily 8:30 am – 6:00 pm

15th October to 14th March
daily 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Tickets

Free entry

 

sachesenhausen oranienburg concentration camp berlin

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Emma

Emma

Hello!

I am Emma and with my husband Mark write Foodie Explorers, which is a food and travel website.

I am a member of the Guild of Food Writers and British Guild of Travel Writers.

We have a wide range of judging experience covering products, hotels and have judged, for example, for Great Taste Awards and Scottish Baker of the Year.

Along the way Mark gained WSET Level 2 in Wine and I have WSET Level 2 in Spirits as well as picking up an award with The Scotsman Food and Drink Awards.    

Usually I can be found sleeping beside a cat.

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