Gedenkstätte Esterwegen

Welcome to Gedenkstätte Esterwegen

The Esterwegen Memorial is a European memorial site that commemorates all 15 Emsland camps and their victims in the years 1933 to 1945. The main exhibition documents the history of the Emsland camps in the context of the history of the "Third Reich". The focus is on the prisoners of the time, their forced labor in the moor and the life and suffering in the camps.

In the outdoor area, the landscape design makes the traces of the former camp recognizable and translates parts of the camp topography that are no longer visible, which stand for violence and threat, into a modern design language using steel elements. The locations of the former barracks are visualized by "tree packages". By covering the former prisoner area with lava, a reddish-brown moor landscape is suggested.

The memorial sets an example against dictatorship, violent politics and terror, against nationalism and racism. It calls for a commitment to human rights, the rule of law and democracy.Source: DZT Knowledge Graph