concentration camps to visit near munich

A Visitor's Guide to the Dachau Concentration Camp

TripSavvy / Maria Ligaya

The Nazi government started the first concentration camp at Dachau , Germany in March of 1933. It has been renovated and preserved as a Holocaust memorial to those who suffered and died there between 1933 and its liberation in 1945. There are several tours from nearby Munich , although you can visit on your own, using public transportation.

The memorial is well-documented in English and you should have no trouble understanding what went on by simply going there yourself. However, a guided tour offers you insights you may not get by just wandering through the exhibits.

Dachau is an interesting town in itself, with roots back to the 9th century. Dachau became the most famous artists’ colony in Germany in the 1870s. 

Dachau Gate: Arbeit Macht Frei

This is where you enter the concentration camp. More than 600,000 people from all over the world come through this gate each year to visit the memorial.

The first prisoners were political, they were simply those who opposed the Nazi regime. Later, other groups were also interned at Dachau, including hardened criminals, homosexuals, gypsies, and Jehovah's Witnesses. It was only later that Jews were interned at Dachau.

The first camp was a re-use of an old munitions factory from the first world war that existed on the site. The camp completed in 1938 was designed for 6,000 prisoners but often held ​much more. The camp was surrounded by electrified fences and watchtowers. The gate to the main entrance had the words "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Makes You Free") at the top.

The Crematorium: Barrack X

When the camp was built, the local population was ready to provide it with food from their gardens. Times were tough, and people needed cash badly. They were turned away.

Eventually, grossly overcrowded camps with malnourished prisoners posed a problem for the people who didn't want them. It didn't make sense for people a government had imprisoned to get health care and decent nourishment. The Nazis needed a quick and dirty way to dispose of the increasing numbers of the dead. The answer was cremation, although, eventually, fuel for the fires ran out.

The camp was liberated in 1945. George Stevens' Irregulars filmed the liberation of the Dachau Concentration Camp . It's a chilling video.

Dachau has a tourism section in English, where you can learn about Dachau as an Artist's Colony in the starting in the late 19th century.

Radius Tours  offers a three-hour tour of Dachau starting at the train station. All transportation costs are included. It spares no detail, including information about medical experiments on prisoners, mass executions of prisoners-of-war and Dachau's role as a way station for Jewish prisoners en route to gas chambers. 

Munich Walk Tours  offer a similar three-hour tour of Dachau that can be combined with its Third Reich Tour for a reduced price.

Getting There

• To get to the Dachau Memorial on your own from the main train station, descend down to the S-Bahn platforms and board any train on the S2 line with the destination marked as Dachau or Petershausen.
• From Dachau station, Bus 726 or 724 will take you to the Memorial. To see the route, or to plan a route from another destination in Europe, see: Munich to Dachau; change the origin to anything you wish if you aren't traveling from Munich.
• Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site address: Alte Römerstraße 75, 85221 Dachau

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Memorial site of the „KZ Dachau" near Munich

Dachau: Concentration Camp Memorial

On the grounds of the former concentration camp (KZ) in Dachau near Munich, the memorial site recalls the suffering and deaths of the prisoners as well as the crimes of the Nazi era.

Adresse und Öffnungszeiten

Pater-Roth-Str. 2a , 85221 Dachau

Opening hours

Note: Closed: December 24 to 26

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The Memorial in Dachau at a glance

• Location: approx. 29 kilometers northwest of Munich in Dachau
• Museum category: Memorial 
• Concept: The fate of the persecuted is documented from their incarceration, life, suffering and death in the camp until liberation.
• Admission fees:  Free of charge
• Directions: S2 in the direction of Dachau Bahnhof. From there, take bus 726 in the direction of Dachau, Saubachsiedlung to the bus stop "Dachau, KZ-Gedenkstätte".

History of the Dachau concentration camp (KZ Dachau)

In 1933, the Dachau camp was commissioned by Heinrich Himmler as the first concentration camp in Germany. In the beginning, mainly political prisoners were imprisoned in Dachau Concentration Camp. With the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws on racial discrimination, new groups of prisoners were added, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, emigrants or homosexuals, and later also Sinti, Roma and prisoners of war.

Over 200,000 prisoners from 34 countries were held there by the Nazis in the years between 1933 and 1945. At least 41,500 people died. On April 29, 1945, the camp was liberated by the U.S. Army.

After the end of the war, the former camp grounds initially served as an Allied prison and a reception camp for homeless people. The memorial of the KZ Dachau was established in 1965.

Exhibitions in the memorial

The focus of the main exhibition in the former utility building is the fate of the prisoners. In six sections and 13 rooms, the "path of the prisoners" is outlined using reports, drawings and biographies, but also through the historical site itself: arrival at the concentration camp, life in the camp, death or liberation.

The permanent exhibitions also include the exhibition in the former camp prison, the barracks exhibition and the former crematorium, which can be visited. The memorial room is also located at the end of the exhibition.

On the grounds there are the Catholic Deathly Fright of Christ Chapel, the Protestant Church of Reconciliation and a Jewish memorial.

In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial also regularly hosts special exhibitions.

At a glance

Dachau concentration camp memorial.

Pater-Roth-Str. 2a 85221 Dachau

Tel: +498131669970 Fax: +4981312235

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

6 Important Holocaust Sites, Museums and Memorials in Germany

Uncover the devastating history of the holocaust at these historic and significant locations around germany..

Harry Sherrin

21 sep 2021.

The Holocaust, a system of mass murder perpetrated by the Nazis, led to the deaths of 6 million Jewish people – around 78% of all Jews in occupied Europe.

The Nazis embarked upon the so-called ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’ under the cover of World War Two. The act was informed by Nazi conceptions of ethnicity, race, ideology and pseudo-scientific eugenics.

Ultimately, the Holocaust was the most extensive and industrialised act of systematic mass murder in history.

Today, that devastating moment in modern history is remembered in sites, museums and memorials across Germany. Here are 6 of the most significant, where visitors can learn more about the history of the Holocaust.

1. Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was used by the Nazis between 1936 and 1945. Its primary function was for the imprisonment and execution – or extermination – of Jews and political dissidents, including many Dutch freedom fighters, Russian prisoners of war and even some political leaders from invaded countries.

Estimates put the number of Sachsenhausen casualties at between 30,000 and 35,000, many of whom were shot, hung or exterminated in a specially built room in its infirmary. Much of Sachsenhausen was destroyed during and after its liberation by Soviet and Polish troops on 22 April 1945, but was rebuilt as part of the project to turn it into a memorial and museum.

2. The Holocaust Memorial – Berlin

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin is an installation commemorating the genocide of the Jewish people perpetrated under Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The Memorial is a monument to the six million European Jews who died in the Holocaust.

Made up of a vast dark granite maze and a subterranean information centre which has details about the victims, the memorial is a moving site.

3. Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz

The Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz was the site of the infamous Wannsee Conference in which the Nazis planned how to carry out the “Final Solution”, the plan to murder the Jewish population of Eastern Europe.

Today, the site provides a moving memorial to the Holocaust as well as an in-depth history of the rise of the Nazi party, the growth of anti-Semitism and the atrocities committed against the Jews.

4. Jewish Museum – Berlin

The Jewish Museum in Berlin in Germany chronicles the history of German Jews over the course of two millennia. Housed in an incredibly modern building, the Berlin Jewish Museum displays historical objects, documents, photographs, multimedia presentations and even computer games relating to different periods of Jewish history and culture.

The exhibitions are arranged chronologically and cover various themes such as the living conditions of German Jews over the centuries, the role of Jewish women, tradition and change and the meaning of emancipation. The museum also looks at the issue of persecution, in particular during the Nazi era and the Holocaust, offering an insight into both the overall historical context and the lives of individual victims of the atrocities.

5. Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau Concentration Camp was one of the first of many concentration camps set up by the Nazis to imprison and murder certain groups as part of their campaign of genocide.

Today, Dachau houses a memorial to those who suffered and perished under the Nazis. Visitors can tour the grounds and the remains of the camp and audio guides are available as are guided tours. There are several exhibitions detailing the history of the camp as well as a documentary shown at various times.

6. Burgkloster

The Burgkloster (Castle Monastery) in Lubeck is considered to be one of the most important medieval monasteries in Germany. Established in 1229, the Burgkloster served as a monastery until the Protestant Reformation, after which it was used as a poorhouse until the 19th century. Under the Third Reich, the Burgkloster was used as a Nazi prison, bearing witness to terrible atrocities, particularly against Jews and those who formed the resistance movement.

Today, the Burgkloster is a museum of Lubeck’s history. Visitors can tour the building as well as viewing exhibits on the history of Lubeck’s Jewish community and about Lubeck’s harrowing involvement in the Nazi regime and the persecution of the Jewish people.

• Leichte Sprache

Opening hours

• Guided Tours for Individual Visitors
• Audio Guides
• Tour Brochure
• Documentary Film
• Mobile Apps
• Accessibility
• Guidelines for Visitors
• Häufig gestellte Fragen (FAQ)
• Digital Tours and Programs
• Guided Tours for Groups
• Seminars for Groups
• Other Tour Providers
• Historical Site and Memorial Site
• Dachau Concentration Camp 1933–1945
• The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, 1945 – today
• The Subcamp Network of the Dachau Concentration Camp
• Topographical Positions
• Virtual Tour
• Virtual Tour of the Surrounding Area
• Permanent Exhibitions
• Temporary exhibition
• Audio and video archive
• Selected Literature
• Exhibits and artefacts collection
• Survivors Speak
• Topography Project
• “The Liberation” – virtual tour
• Virtual commemoration
• Virtual opening “Traces of the Past”
• 76th anniversary of the liberation

"Dachau - the meaning of this name cannot be erased from German history. It stands for concentration camps built by the Nazis in their territory."

EUGEN KOGON

Possible restrictions due to weather conditions

The Memorial Site is currently open. Due to weather conditions, the western part of the museum must remain closed. Acces to the eastern part of the museum via alternative entrances

The Memorial Site is open to visitors daily from 9 am to 5 pm .

The Memorial Site is closed on December 24th.

The entry is free.

You will find more information via „ Your visit “.

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