Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

The memorial site was erected on the grounds of the Dachau concentration camp.

On March 21 1933, Heinrich Himmler ordered that a concentration camp be erected at Dachau, the first concentration camp to be built in Germany. The first commandant, Theodor Eicke, developed an organizational plan which was later to become valid for all concentration camps. He established the Dachau camp as the murder school for the SS. Towards the end of April 1945, the SS began to evacuate the 169 subsidiary camps and external work details. On April 29, 1945, units from the US Army liberated the camp. In all, 200,000 prisoners from 34 countries were held captive in Dachau.

The Concentration Camp Memorial Site was founded in 1965 by the International Dachau Survivors' Committee (Comité International de Dachau, CID). Its building was financed by the State of Bavaria. The site comprises the grounds of the former prisoners' camp and the camp crematoriums.

Since 1960, four religious memorials have been erected: the Catholic Mortal Agony of Christ chapel. the Jewish Memorial, the Protestant Church of Reconciliation and the Russian Orthodox chapel. The International Memorial designed by Nandor Glid was dedicated in September 1968.

Reference: Munich Tourist Office