Sachsenhausen Memorial & Museum, Berlin Travel Guide

The Sachsenhausen Memorial & Museum, located approximately 35km north of Berlin, marks the site of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, established in 1936. Designed as a model camp, it became the administrative center for all concentration camps within the German sphere of power. Sachsenhausen held over 200,000 prisoners from across Europe, including political opponents, Jews, Roma, and Soviet prisoners of war. Tens of thousands perished due to hunger, disease, forced labor, medical experiments, and systematic extermination.The memorial site includes original and reconstructed buildings, offering insight into the camp's structure and the prisoners' living conditions. Visitors can explore the roll-call area, barracks, prison cells, and the execution trench. The New Museum features exhibits on the camp's history, the Soviet Special Camp that operated on the site from 1945 to 1950, and the memorial's development. Audio guides are available to enhance the self-guided tour experience.After the war, the Soviet Union used Sachsenhausen as a special camp for political prisoners until 1950. In 1961, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) established the Sachsenhausen National Memorial. Since 1993, the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum has been part of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation.