KZ-GEDENKSTÄTTE FLOSSENBÜRG

Description

In the Oberpfälzer Wald near the German–Czech border, the Flossenbürg concentration camp memorial marks the grounds of the former camp and preserves the memory of the victims at several locations. On the site there is an ash burial place as well as a separate, large concentration camp cemetery with mass graves. The permanent exhibition opened in 2007 in the former laundry building; the memorial has been administered by the Stiftung Bayerische Gedenkstätten since 2003.

The camp existed from 1938 until 23 April 1945 in the municipality of Flossenbürg near Weiden in the Oberpfälzer Wald. Thousands of prisoners were used for forced labor in the granite quarry and later in the production of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft. Of the roughly 100,000 people incarcerated, at least 30,000 died. The main camp was the starting point of a network of almost 90 subcamps.

Structural traces of the camp remain on the site: remnants of the original prisoner surveillance, cellars and a supply tunnel to the laundry, as well as the present commandant’s building, which, after various uses, served as residential space before its museal use. The current entrance posts are modern reconstructions; the original posts were moved after the war and once bore the plaques "Arbeit macht frei" and "Schutzhaftlager".

After 1945, residential developments and, at times, commercial enterprises were established on parts of the site. In 1958 houses were built on the former barrack areas; in 2006 numerous well-known structures and the entire site were placed under protection as an archaeological monument. The quarry, which was commercially used until March 2024, was integrated into the memorial after the lease agreements ended.

Immediately after liberation, Allied forces established a small cemetery for 146 prisoners in the town center. On the camp grounds the "Tal des Todes" with the former crematorium recalls the executions; there are ash pits, an "ash pyramid" set on a plinth, and a multilingual inscription that names the mass shootings. Survivors erected memorial plaques and stones for murdered fellow inmates.

Between 1957 and 1960 a large collective honorary cemetery for victims from Bavaria was created; at least 5,576 people were buried here after bodies from hundreds of previously existing concentration camp cemeteries and burial sites were exhumed and brought together.

The permanent exhibition in the renovated laundry building documents the history of the camp, individual fates and prisoner groups. Historic rooms such as the boiler house and the prisoners’ bath have been preserved. Displayed artworks illustrate aspects of camp operations, although in parts they lack contextualization of the prisoners’ labor. The memorial was awarded the Bavarian Museum Prize in 2011.

With the end of the quarry’s commercial use, its grounds can be gradually incorporated. Present there are a forge, a metal workshop, an administrative building and the foundations of armaments production halls. Initially planned is a "Memory Lab" in the administrative building, which is to incorporate a preserved ceiling fresco; the renovation costs are estimated at around nine million euros. Later, among other measures, the prisoner staircase leading down into the quarry is to be made accessible.