Sachsenhausen Museum and Memorial had been originally built with the concept of imprisoning the Nazi government political opponents. Soon it detained Jews, those recognizable, intellectuals, gipsies and homosexuals as its function aggravated. Some of the first structures of camp complex have been preserved, they occupy their original arrangement and can now be visited as museum. Some of which include; several prisoner barracks and a pathology laboratory where prisoner were experimented on by the Nazi doctors.
Before visiting the Memorial
If young people acquired only a basic knowledge of the history of National Socialism and of exclusion and extermination, they will be able to grapple with the complicated history of the Memorial. Prior knowledge can be defined as experience that provides a basis for information organization and management, regulating emotions, and structuring historical questions.
It should be on their own wish and desire that a visitor makes a move to attend the function. The choice to bring a group to the Memorial should interest young people. Do not go to the Memorial without familiarization with the topic of National Socialism in the context of the learning level Sekundarstufe II or starting the topic in class at the 9th or 10th form, corresponding to the Sixth Form. Below is a list of books that gives an account of the system of the Soviet Special Camp and the Concentration Camp as well as personal accounts of books authored or compiled by the survivors.
Visitors often have special expectations before coming to the Memorial. Before making a visit to this Memorial and museum, it is helpful to discuss in class the nature and some responsibilities of a Memorial.
The Memorial in that the name suggests it can be considered as graveyard as well as memorial. In addition, it functions as a class. I believe that there should be no exaggerated expectations of children’s behavior and emotions. Some of the areas interior-wise that one can get to view are the barracks, prison, kitchen, and the commandants quarters are selected for viewing.
While there are no charges for entry into Sachsenhausen, a tour provides more about the history of Nazi Germany. It tells a lot more about the prisoners who were incarcerated in the camp earlier. A vast majority of people visit the somber site via guided tours organized either as small group or private tours originating from Berlin.
Upon leaving the Memorial
Especially, it is useful to articulate/discuss the group members’ impressions and transformation of perceptions of the Memorial after the visit. You may also successfully launch the conversation by sharing photos and samples of what the students produced during the visit. If thoughts and feelings may be expressed openly there is a greater opportunity to ask additional questions which can then be further explored in class.
The visit ideas can be le out in a journal, articles for the school magazine or website or wall newspapers in order to avoid jams. As for the history part, students could do research on the history of their neighbourhood or school during the Nazi regime more deeply and explore the connection between subjects, and their immediate surroundings. Maybe there was a camp for slave labour or an auxiliary camp to a concentration camp.
Sachsenhausen Museum and Memorial centres
It is located near Berlin and once was one of the most severe concentration camps that belonged to the Nazi administration. Sachsenhausen is also a modern library, an archive, and other open-air exhibitions used for the guests of the museum.
As you prepare to go it is important to consider the factors below.
Visit it in sneakers for easy movement from one exhibition to the other and take at least two hours to move around the facility.
Remember, swimming is not permitted in the beach since it is a memorial site to ask for reflection.
Apart from a few small areas, the greater part of Sachsenhausen is fully accessible to wheelchair users.
Getting There
Sachsenhausen is at Oranienburg, roughly thirty-five miles, or forty minutes’ drive and about an hour by train, from the midst of Berlin. You can get here by subway (S-Bahn) from Berlin city center to Oranienburg, or by car, then walk for about 20 minutes or take bus.804 to the museum.
Brief history of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
Built during the summer of 1936 by prisoners, this camp was a training center for SS administrators of other Nazi concentration camps. The Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg held more than 65000 men and women prisoners in January 1945 and before they were liberated by the allies in April 105000 people had perished in the war.
Time to Arrive
The Sachsenhausen Memorial facility is open throughout the year. Before thinking of visiting the site during winter, ensure you dress appropriately for the site is located outside. Although the main monument, accompanied by functioning outdoor exhibits are always open to the public, it is also possible to visit the library and the archive only by appointment, and they are closed on anything but Tuesday to Friday.
To visit the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museums
Sachsenhausen is a large area with several museums and schools and the basic exhibits would need to be expanded seriously.
Ideally, you should allow two to three hours here, and even if you decide to limit yourself to the major sights and simply read some of the placards.
Sachsenhausen’s information is in German and English; visitors’ centres contain information in other languages to ‘see’ the site requires considerable walking and reading.
It can be said that not only the amount of the material that can be observed is vast but the topics chosen are also too broad to visit in one turn. The exhibitions and the advertised information panels provide clear documentation of the savagery, killings, and other torture performed at Sachsenhausen and the network of concentration camps. The following section provides a brief description of what a visitor is likely to see and an indication of where might be the more interesting stuff – according to this, that is.
TIP: This is especially important if you are short on time: try to see the Station Z area and exhibition located in the former kitchen at least. The entrance to the camp is quite a way ahead and can be reached on foot after buying the map from the camp visitor center. On the way, there are a number of informative boards. It’s completely closed most of the times as are the other structures such as SS Troop Home (green) and the camp commandant’s house (gray).
The Sachsenhausen Memorial Site has the following exhibitions
Local visitors are almost entirely uninterested in the New Museum which is placed just before the access to the camp. Although the place seems to have a rather interesting stained glass window from the DDR period inside the entrance. The management of the site from 1960 to 1990 forms the core part of the show. The large number of people that would skip it altogether and spend more time in the camp’s other interesting sections.
Visitors are free to enter the former camp via the fourth gate on which is inscribed Arbeit Macht Frei from the central guard tower. From this vantage point, one can see most part of the camp. The initial triangular design was not repeated at other places since the notion that the whole camp could be controlled with one tower was wrong; that was impractical particularly when a camp was extended sometime in the future.
The roll call area (Appellplatz) with the gallows at the back and the eastern part of the boots testing track to the right was in front of the guard tower. Here, prisoners were forced to be paraded for arrayed hours to try out latest military shoes.
Written in white are the outlines of what used to be the barracks; most of what you see here is a replica. After the East-German dictators decided in 1961 to construct a memorial dedicated to the anti-fascist fight here with a gross historic misrepresentation, the site was only saved to a certain extent.
In 1961 a security system near the wall was reconstructed. Conscripts who came into this ‘neutral death strip’ were mown down in their tracks. To prevent suicides, guards concentrated mainly on the legs. Two rebuilt barracks may be found to the right: 38 of them were dedicated to Jewish prisoners, and 39 – to the life of the camp. The former prison adjoining this building was a punitive facility where the SS and Gestapo used torture against prisoners. The cells have number of monuments dedicated to service members and foreign resistance fighters who were killed in the camp.
The highlights are located in the kitchen of the once prison, which seems to be the most interesting area of the entire museum. It gives vivid account of life in the camp while at the same time focusing on major events. This is most likely the amazing what at the site that people go to see when they are at the location. Although you may need to return to the said barracks at some point, this may well be the best place to start a tour of the memorial.
The DDR built a high memorial behind the kitchen soon after the place was declared as a national memorial in 1961. The 18 red triangles indicate the colours that political prisoners had to wear as part of their uniforms. The DDR laid especially much stress on the fight between socialists, particularly communists, and the Nazi regime. Most criminals and vices were blamed on capitalists, freeing the working class.
The second guard tower with the mediocre display of how the camp was related to the town is found at the extreme rear of the site. There is an entrance to the close by camp that the Soviets employed from 1945 to 1950 immediately behind. A lot of the facilities remain to this day, and a large documentation center holds a lot of info on the actions of Soviets. While the use of the camp from 1945 to 1950 was a sin in and on itself, the main camp and the Nazi era will probably attract visitors’ attention most of all.
However the area that is considered to be the most disturbing of the camp, is through a hole in a wall nearby to the memorial monument . This ‘Station Z’ was a common nazi name for the killing and crematorium by which the unfortunate prisoner’s journey ended. While Sachsenhausen had a few gas chambers these were largely for instruction and experimentation not extermination.
Station Z of the Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen
On the left from the main entrance there are old pathology, mortuary vaults and infirmary barracks with a large exhibit devoted to medical aspect of camp life including medical crimes. This exhibition contains a wealth of information panels. Rather than trying to collect as much as is possible it is often wiser to concentrate on a few.
Information for Visitors and Opening Time of the Sachsenhausen Memorial
The Sachsenhausen Memorial grounds and visitor center are open every day from 8:From mid-March to mid-October they operate from 30 to 18:00 and from 18:00 to mid-October. The Sachsenhausen Memorial’s indoor exhibits and museums are open from 11:Open from 00:00 to 1500 hours on weekdays, and is closed on Mondays.
In addition to the reduced hours during the Christmas and the New Year holidays the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museums are open on holidays. While the general public is encouraged to go through the displays and the site, children below the age of twelve should not be allowed to see the information and pictures in the displays and on the site. All buildings and grounds are free and all exhibits are open to the public. A nominal fee is necessary for map or an audio tour. Walking on the memorial ground carries some restrictions: only bikes are prohibited from being ridden, and dogs are barred from running around the place.
It is understood that the memorial site does not have provision for sale of food and non-food items such as beverages and there is a small café annexed to the museum but right at the entrance of the memorial site it is normally closed. On the way there or coming back, get your picnic lunch from the bakery right across from the train station.
For a unique experience, hire the Original Sachsenhausen memorial tour service! The guides then avail themselves to tour you around the entire camp with lots of fun and interesting information given throughout the tour.
Thank you for reading. If you have enjoyed the stories of Berlin or would like to learn more then perhaps consider joining our Free Berlin Walking Tour? It’s a fun way to dive in the city’s history and felt the beat of its lively culture. We are greatly looking forward to your patronage.
