Important places at the memorial - Buchenwald Memorial

On the slightly sloping hillside of the upper Ettersberg, isolated trees stand between several rows of flower beds. Behind them the bell tower of the memorial site.

ETTERSBERG CEMETERY Grave Rows April/May 1945

Around 400 people who died after the liberation as a result of being imprisoned in the camp lie in the Ettersberg cemetery. Ashes from urns, which the SS had stored in a Bismarck tower above the graves at the time, lie in a tumba.

View of the white camp gate with the inscription "To each his own" in red letters, which can be read from the inside

Camp Gate and Fence "Gate to Hell" and Triumphal Arch

On October 9, 1950, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED decided that only the camp gate building should be preserved as a symbol of "self-liberation" along with the watchtowers to the left and right, the camp fence connecting these...

View into the cross corridor of the detention cell building. Individual visitors stand in front of various cells and look inside.

COMMEMORATIVE ROOMS IN THE DETENTION CELLS Inside the cells of the "Bunker"

Commemorative rooms were established in the mid 1950s in the former cells of the so-called "bunker" of the concentration camp for people who were murdered here.

Aerial view of the former prisoner camp. Dark areas mark the ground plans of the barracks. Few buildings are still standing. Forest all around.

FORMER INMATES' CAMP Demolition and remodeling

The former inmates' camp was largely demolished by 1953. The position of the barracks was marked with black slag in the resulting open area.

View of the single-story building that was formerly the prisoners' canteen. The two identical wings of the building are separated in the middle by an entrance area with a pointed roof.

Former Inmates' Canteen Model and seminar rooms

Also, the former market of the concentration camp was slated for demolition in the 1950s. However, because it was being used as a gym by the Soviet military still situated in the nearby casern, the demolition was postponed.

Memorial plaque on the outside wall of the crematorium of the Buchenwald Memorial. The text reads: Eternal glory to the son of the German people, the leader of the German working class Ernst Thälmann, who was murdered by fascism on this spot on August 18, 1944.

THÄLMANN MEMORIAL PLAQUE Site of the murder of the chairman of the KPD

Creating a memorial for Ernst Thälmann, a former member of the Reichstag and chairman of the German Communist Party (KPD), was centrally important in the representation of the history of Buchenwald in the GDR.

Six crematory ovens in an otherwise empty room. They are open. Small rails lead to the doors. In front of the oven on the far left, one of the rolling racks is still standing on the rails.

FORMER CREMATORIUM Place of mourning and evidence of crimes against humanity

Today the former crematorium is a central site of mourning and commemoration for all those who died or were murdered in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. The existence of the original incinerators provides the most visible and strongest evidence of the...

A massive, regularly worked memorial stone from the side. It consists of a large, flat cuboid bearing the inscription, angled at a slight angle. Due to the perspective, the text is not legible. On the right, on the lower end of the cuboid, there is a floral arangmant.

Commemorative Stones from the 1950s First memorial stones in the former camp

In 1953, the GDR government began to erect the National GDR Buchenwald Monument on the southern slope of Ettersberg Mountain. At this point in time, six different commemorative stones located at the former site of the concentration camp were dedicated...

Aerial view of the memorial site. At the top left, the path begins downhill. Further down, the balcony-like Street of Nations stretches from one ring grave to the next. Halfway down, another ring grave. From there uphill the path leads to the bell tower.

Buchenwald Memorial National Monument of the GDR

Visible from far and wide, the Buchenwald Memorial is the gravesite of almost 5,000 concentration camp inmates, and today it is the largest monument commemorating a NS concentration camp in Europe. The large-scale complex was constructed in 1958 on the...

A row of concrete letters that form the word Memento. In the background a balustrade marks an earthen funnel surrounded by trees

Ash Graves Commemorative Site MEMENTO

The ash grave fell into oblivion in 1945. Rediscovered in 1965, it was designed in 1967 and inaugurated as a cemetery.

Foundation walls of the former isolation barracks. The gravel surface is interrupted by grass. On the left an intact wall with a memorial plaque

Breitscheid Memorial Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Reichstag

Rudolf Breitscheid, chairman of the SPD Reichstag faction during the Weimar Republic, was killed on August 24, 1944, in the "isolation barracks" during an Allied air raid on the armament factory and SS garrison at Buchenwald. A memorial was dedicated to...

View of the parking lot of the memorial. Next to it the former SS barracks buildings, which are now used by the memorial.

Former SS Casern International Young People's Centre and Visitor Information

Initially used to house the Barracked People's Police, the casern is now an international youth centre and information centre for visitors.

The flat former disinfection building as it looks today. The right wing has glass walls. In the background the former depot building.

Former Disinfection Building Art exhibition

Initially used to house the museum and the Ernst Thälmann Memorial, today the building holds the exhibition "Means of Survival – Testimony – Artwork – Visual Memory."

View across the site to the former depot building. It is large and long. In the foreground, the ground plans of the former barracks can be seen in darkness.

FORMER STORAGE DEPOT Exhibition on the history of the concentration camp

Used as a grain depot at first, the building housed the "Museum of Anti-fascist Resistance" beginning in 1985. Today, the exhibition "Buchenwald. Ostracism and Violence 1937 to 1945" is on view here, covering three floors.

The inscription of the Jewish memorial on the ground: "That the future generation may know, the children that are born, that they may rise up and tell their children." Behind it the cinder stone field of the Jewish Memorial.

Jewish Memorial At the former Block 22

The "Jewish Memorial" was consecrated on November 9, 1993, in the footprint of barracks 22, one of the so-called Jewish blocks. It honours the memory of the 75,000 Jewish men and women who were interred at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp and its...

Columnar, waist-high stones set in a black siltstone field. On the top of the stones were deposited sporadically small stones

Memorial for the murdered Sinti and Roma At the former Block 14

The memorial commemorated in 1995 within the footprint of block 14 remembers the Porajmos, the genocide perpetrated against the Sinti and Roma. The memorial was installed at the former site of block 14, where Austrian Roma were imprisoned during the...

An orange stone block with the engraving: "Block 45". In the background, side by side, are five memorial stones from behind, placed at the former location of the block.

Commemorative Stones at the former Block 45 At the former "transit block"

After arriving at the camp and going through the associated entry procedures in the disinfection building and depot, where new arrivals received their inmate numbers, many inmates were initially housed in block 45, the so-called transit block.

The silver square memorial plate placed on the ground. In front of the plate is a flower arrangement. In the background you can see the gate building.

Memorial to all the dead of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp At the former roll call square

A week after their liberation, the surviving inmates gathered at roll call square on April 19, 1945, to honour the memory of their deceased comrades and to thank the Allied troops. At the end of the memorial service, they pledged the "Oath of...

A single steel stele amidst the forest. At the bottom of the stele the number 13 and the word "Unknown". In the background more stelae throughout the forest

Forest Cemetery Cemeteries of Soviet Special Camp No. 2

Designed in 1995, the forest cemetery remembers the 7,113 people who died in the Soviet Special Camp No. 2. Steel steles mark the collective graves, each containing the remains five to six individuals.

In the foreground of the picture one of the steel stelae. Behind it the wooden cross. Memorial candles were placed in front of the cross.

Site of Mourning Special Camp No. 2 Site of Mourning Special Camp No. 2

A high cross marks an open area of mourning, where church services and memorial ceremonies are held in remembrance of those who perished in the special camp.

Visitors walk the time corridor from the camp. A staircase leads down to the former post path.

Time Lane To Ettersburg Castle

On Ettersberg Mountain, old paths connect the Buchenwald Concentration Camp and Ettersburg Castle, a summer residence of the Weimar court. Grünehausallee, walkable as a "Time Lane" hiking path, inspires visitors to contemplate the proximity of culture...

Remains of the camp fence and a watchtower. Visitors walk along a path between them.

SS Guard Path 3 kilometers around the camp

The guard path ran along the exterior of the camp fence. It was a paved road, accessible for vehicles, where the SS patrolled in pairs. Running a length of three kilometres, it encircles the former prison camp. Walking this path gives a sense of the...

General view of the remains of the wall, which today form the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Memorial. The walls form the walls of a cellar, which today is open to the top.

Bonhoeffer Commemorative Site theologian and resistance fighter

Dedicated in 1999, the memorial commemorates the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Wehrmacht General Friedrich von Rabenau, and Wehrmacht Captain Ludwig Gehre, who were held in the detention cellar of the SS casern as "special prisoners" of the...

Two densely written black memorial plaques on the wall. In front of them on the floor are smaller black plaques with place names.

Little Camp Memorial Designed by former inmate Stephen B. Jacobs

The Little Camp Memorial commemorates the more than 5,000 who perished in the "hell of Buchenwald." In between the sites of the former barracks, the memorial, erected in 2002, forms an area enclosed by a wall, which invites visitors to sit and rest.

Memorial stone covered with small stones with engraved inscription: "Nobody said goodbye. No one erected a cross or a stone. But you will live as long as people remember you. To the more than 27,000 women and girls from over 30 countries who were forced into slave labor as prisoners in 27 subcamps of Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944 and 1945, victims of Nazi violence and the death marches. Non Omnis Moriar." Under the lettering a single red flower

Commemorative Stone for Women At the former Block 5

Dedicated in April 2003, a commemorative stone at the site of former block 5 honours the memory of more than 27,000 women and girls from over 30 nations at the women's subcamp in Buchenwald. 329 women as well as seven infants and small children died...

Remains of a switchyard just before the end of the line of the Buchenwaldbahn.

Commemorative Buchenwald Railway Path In memory of deported children and young people

Installed in 2009 on the bed of the former rail line connecting Weimar and Buchenwald, the commemorative path brings together educational outreach and hands-on experience.

Commemorative Buchenwald Railway Path In memory of deported children and young people

Installed in 2009 on the bed of the former rail line connecting Weimar and Buchenwald, the commemorative path brings together educational outreach and hands-on experience.