When visiting Berlin, there are countless historical sites worth exploring, and one that should not be overlooked is Sachsenhausen. This former concentration camp turned memorial and museum offers a unique opportunity to delve into the dark history of Nazi Germany. In this blog post, we will guide you through the key reasons why you should consider visiting Sachsenhausen from Berlin.

The History of Sachsenhausen

Sachsenhausen was founded in 1936, approximately 30 kilometres northwest of Berlin, in the town of Oranienburg. In its first years, before the first concentration camp badge was created in the SS camp Dachau in 1936, it was designed for political prisoners and became the prototype for other concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Between 1933 and 1945, the camp incarcerated more than 200, 000 persons and many of them including children had been tortured through forced labor, the medical experimentations and even extermination.

If you pay a trip to Sachsenhausen, you will easily delve into a number of horrors of the Second World War particularly the holocaust. The site gives a very strong message that one must always remember history at all times.

How to travel to Sachsenhausen from Berlin

Fortunately, finding the Sachsenhausen from Berlin, is not strait away tricky in fact it is very easy to get there. Here are a few transportation options:

Train: The S1 is your train from Berlin to Oranienburg. From there it is just a bus or even taxi ride to the memorial site.

Guided Tours: Tiking a guided tour is perhaps one of the best ways to tour the sachsenhausen zone while gaining some facts from a guide. Many independent service providers provide Berlin based day trips to the site with the services of a guide.

Self-Driving: But if you want to have a flexible and greater say on your schedule you can hire a car to get to Sachsenhausen. The ride takes about 45 minutes from the central part of Berlin in the current transport vehicles.

Regardless of which of the options is chosen, it is recommended to spend at least five or six hours at the memorial site.

What to Expect at Sachsenhausen

Sachsenhausen comes with a tad of guided tour as visitors are free to do the tour at their own pace. Here are some highlights you can expect:

Main Camp Area: If arriving to the area by car, start at the main camp area that encompasses a range of exhibition buildings and memorials. Don’t miss museum telling stories of people and illustrating with exhibits.

Prisoner Barracks: Visit the barbed wire fencing and reconstructed prisoner barracks in order to understand how the animals were living in the concentration camp. These barracks give some idea of what life in the camp was like.

Opening Hours

Entrance Fee

March to October: 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM

Free

November to February: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Why Visit Sachsenhausen?

There are several compelling reasons to visit Sachsenhausen during your trip to Berlin:

Education and Awareness: Thus, when getting to the camp which is Sachsenhausen, one becomes a participant in the process of promoting people’s awareness on the holocaust. To avoid repetition of such tragedies in the future we owe it to ourselves to remember.

Historical Significance: Sachsenhausen is significant to European history in one way or the other. The opportunity to walk the same territories that many victims of the extermination policy of the state were killed contributes to the understanding of the past in some ways.

Memorial and Museum: This memorial and museum are well organized, with detailed descriptions of the very history of the Sachsenhausen camp. It is especially safe to assume that in a way, they pay respect to victims and survivors of such acts.

Reflection and Remembrance: First of all, Sachsenhausen is a place for an individual contemplation and memorialization. The atmosphere of the place leads the visitor to think about the outcomes of hate and their discrimination.

Humanity and Hope: Nevertheless, the history connected with Sachsenhausen, as well as the history of the other concentration camps, are full of the examples of the human spirit victories and survivor tales.

Conclusion

Trip to Sachsenhausen from Berlin is recommended for every person who wants to learn how and why Nazi Germany and the Holocaust happened. To spend some time visiting this grim place you help to keep history and ensure that the public never forgets the mistakes made.

Spend your time to learn, mourn, and become a witness for changing the world and making it a better place.

Neveretheless, Sachsenhausen exists as a memorial to the past and we are called for a change which will be wholly devoid of hatred and discrimination.