Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen

Located just north of Berlin in Oranienburg, the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum occupies the site of one of the first major Nazi concentration camps, established in 1936. The site served as a model for subsequent camps and headquarters for the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps, making it central to the entire Nazi system of terror. Today, walking through the triangular roll-call area past the reconstructed barracks and crematoria is a profoundly sobering and necessary experience that honours the memory of the approximately 200,000 people imprisoned here.

History of Sachsenhausen

Sachsenhausen was established by Heinrich Himmler in 1936 and designed from the outset as a model camp, built to an ideological blueprint by prisoner labour. Its distinctive triangular layout with the guard tower at the apex was conceived to allow complete visual surveillance of the entire camp from a single point. The camp initially held political prisoners, religious dissenters, homosexuals, and others the Nazi regime deemed enemies of the state.

During World War II the camp expanded dramatically and held prisoners of many nationalities including Soviet POWs, who were killed in their tens of thousands. Station Z, the camp extermination area containing a gas chamber, crematoria, and execution trench, was constructed in 1943. After liberation by Soviet forces in April 1945, the site was used by the Soviet occupiers as Special Camp No. 7, where thousands of Germans were held and many died of starvation and disease.

What to See at the Memorial

The memorial site spans the original camp grounds and contains reconstructed barracks, original watchtowers, the camp wall, and the remains of Station Z. The main museum in the former kitchen building presents a comprehensive history of the camp through documents, photographs, and personal testimonies. Several barrack buildings have been restored to show conditions as they were during various periods of the camp operation.

Barrack 38 has been reconstructed as a dedicated memorial to Jewish prisoners, while Barrack 39 documents the persecution of homosexual prisoners. The Pathology Building contains an important exhibition on the Nazi pseudo-scientific experiments conducted on prisoners. The outdoor grounds include the roll-call area, the shooting trench, and memorial sculptures erected by different nations.

The Soviet Special Camp Memorial

A separate museum on the site documents the history of Soviet Special Camp No. 7, which operated here from 1945 to 1950. This darker chapter of the memorial history is presented with equal honesty, acknowledging that persecution and imprisonment continued on this same soil under a different ideology. The graves of the thousands who died in the Soviet camp were discovered during construction work in the 1990s and are now marked within the memorial grounds.

The memorial takes seriously its obligation to present the complete and uncomfortable history of the site, including both the Nazi camp and the Soviet special camp. Educational programmes for schools and adult groups are offered regularly, and the site attracts researchers from around the world who study this period of history.

Practical Information

• Tickets: Entry to the memorial grounds is free; special exhibitions may have a small charge
• Opening hours: Daily 8:30am-6pm (mid-March to mid-October); daily 8:30am-4:30pm (mid-October to mid-March)
• Best time to visit: Weekday mornings for smallest crowds; allow at least half a day
• Duration: 2-4 hours minimum; a full day for thorough exploration
• Booking: Guided tours should be booked in advance at sachsenhausen-sbg.de; audio guides available on site

Local Insights

What visitors and educators recommend before visiting Sachsenhausen:

• Read or watch something about the camp before your visit – background knowledge makes the experience far more meaningful
• Allow significantly more time than you think you will need – most visitors find they cannot rush through the site
• A guided tour with a knowledgeable guide is highly recommended, especially for first-time visitors to Holocaust memorial sites
• The memorial provides an honest and emotionally powerful experience – prepare yourself for a psychologically intense day
• Oranienburg town is easily reached by S-Bahn and the walk from the station to the memorial takes about 20 minutes

Getting There

• S-Bahn: S1 from Berlin Friedrichstrasse or Hauptbahnhof to Oranienburg, approximately 50 minutes
• By car: Approximately 35 km north of Berlin on the B96; parking available near the entrance
• From Oranienburg station: Walk approximately 20 minutes or take bus 804 to the Gedenkstatte stop
• Organised tours: Many Berlin tour operators offer guided day trips to Sachsenhausen that include transport