Sachsenhausen Memorial & Museum

It was very informative with a cheap audio guide (roughly €3. 50). Entry is free. It's not very easy to find your way there if you're using public transport. Google Maps took us in via an office complex and police headquarters (the old SS training camp, I believe). It's got a lot of information in the different rooms with a lot of reading, although plenty of different languages are catered for. A lot of the main areas to visit have been restored or rebuilt and it's hard to gauge the conditions of the time. It does seem to be a work in progress to restore everything and add extra sections. Some of the interactive exhibits didn't seem to work which would be troublesome for those who needed audio guidance. The computers we were using at one point just all turned off. I would recommend it but it needs a full day and plenty of energy for all of the walking and some stamina for the reading. I think they offer guided tours but I'm not certain.

We did this tour when we visited Berlin for a few days in March. As a history lover this was right up my street. We did this with a guide Campbell who was very knowledgeable. The tour itself was very informative, with a range of information boards and material to read through at your leisure. Very moving place to visit. Would recommend a visit if you enjoy history

Ok visit, but not that many original details still there which makes it more difficult to grasp the extent of the horror, especially for our teens. I don't want to say it's necessary to have the horrific details around, but to me it does bring a tangible message across for next generations, to make sure it never happens again.

A profoundly moving and essential memorial. The Sachsenhausen Memorial & Museum is thoughtfully curated, offering deep insight into both the Nazi concentration camp and post-war Soviet use. The exhibitions, preserved buildings, and memorials are powerful and respectful. A must-visit for anyone seeking to understand this history.

If you want to really understand what happened with the ‘final solution’ by the Nazis in WEII then you need to go on this tour. Our guide, Hannah, was amazing and so knowledgeable. She also brought her own personal story into our tour- it made it all the more validating and real.

This is an important location in history that was hidden for a long time. When I lived in Berlin in the 1980’s (West Berlin at the time) I never heard of Sachsenhausen. I’m glad I was able to take the UBahn, train, and bus to get there from Mitte. It was a cold and rainy day when we went which added to the somber atmosphere.

The scale of suffering humans can inflict upon each other is harrowing to learn about, but we must see things like this to help stop them from happening in the future. There’s loads of information throughout the complex about both sets of history (German and Russian). Personal stories and biographies brought home the individuality of people known during their internment only as a number. It also had some constructive re-writes from members of the Sinti & Roma communities to improve the language around their experience in Sachsenhausen. The way it broke down and explained the camp structure and hierarchy was interesting. It left me with a personal feeling that it was designed so that no one person could ever be held accountable. It’s free entry, with audio guides costing just 3,50€.

Best place to know about the cruel history of Germany! I would recommend the audio guide, which is around 3.5 euro.

I have been to Auschwitz-Birkenau but needed to supply some education to my son. And the fascinating facts of this concentration camp: is it is the first concentration camp, located just an hour north of Berlin by car, the people of Oranienburg were actually aware of this camp, there was a prisoner kitchen and laundry, prisoners had been toilets and wash basins (if the reconstructed housing is accurate), prisoners with good behavior could write home, the Soviets reused this camp to detain (and exterminate) Nazis and Hitler Youth after WWII. I recommend the audioguides (additional fee). You could spend all day walking around Sachsenhausen, but if you add in the education of the Death March in the town of Oranienburg then this is, for sure, a full day (get out your walking shoes!). There is no lack of history and education to be had! It is gross and disgusting, but I'm thankful for the German government for using these memories to teach everyone around the world of these histories. May we never repeat them!

Visiting this concentration camp was an incredibly sobering experience. I had chills from the minute we entered the gates. Our tour guide was fantastic (highly recommend going with a guide versus going alone) and he gave an incredible history of the camp and the prisoners. If you don't go with a guide, I'd still give yourself 2-3 hours to see the entire grounds.

If you are visiting Berlin, this is a must. Fairly easy access by SBahn and then Bus. You can spend a few hours visiting the buildings, reading the info provided, watching videos... sobering. The only thing lacking was a good restaurant or coffee shop in the area, especially in the cold and wet winter months

Thoroughly somber since visiting hours ago this morning. Walking back to the station from the site I'd say I was feeling depressed on this rainy, winter day, reflecting on prisoners wearing shredded striped pajamas and maybe putting all their hope and meaning into one small craft made of stolen materials that could cost them their lives. Public transportation from Berlin was not difficult and audio tours are only 3 euros. At the very beginning of the tour I couldn't exactly follow every detail as I wasn't familiar with some of the acronyms, but there is an accompanying brochure they give you too. I noticed a little bit of the content was also verbatim from some signs in the museum. I learned a fair amount from the tour but definitely still have questions, some things were lacking context in my opinion, such as how the Red Cross got involved with providing food. I understand many people would have died without them but why were they involved exactly? Acts of terror were attempted to be covered up but also many people including children knew Russians were being burned. I was especially moved by the works of art created by slaves. Many artifacts of songs written. The illustrations in the kitchen are so depressing because the characters are so cute and they're clever and yet you learn the food supply dwindled and the produce was rotten. You see such talent wasted and it's a very stark contrast to say my life and everything in it feels trivial.

It's hard to describe this museum. I was here in cold winter, I was with my ski jacket, I cannot think about these people being here in winter in their pijamas. It is very well accomplished how the history enters your bones. Very sad place but worth the visit. Es difícil describir este museo. Estuve aquí en pleno invierno, con nieve con mi campera de Ski, no puedo imaginarme toda esta gente estando aquí en invierno en sus pijamas. Esta muy bien logrado, la historia se mete en tus huesos. Un lugar muy triste de visitar pero que vale mucho la pena.

In A Nutshell: -The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp located 20 minutes north of Berlin in the small town of Oranienburg, Germany is very surreal. -As soon as you park, you can feel the cruel history here. -Once used as Germany's go-to testing grounds for mass murder, this concentration camp now consists of a museum and only a few standing buildings left for people to see. -You'll enter the dreaded gate, after walking into the camp grounds, you'll see a flat ground w/ some buildings. -The buildings that are left were the infirmary, a couple barracks, a prison building, some guard towers and some other buildings that I didn't have the time to check out. -The creepiest building is the prison. -Inside you'll learn about how the cruel punishments were used to harass & ultimately kill Jews and other prisoners during WW2. -Your heart just breaks trying to imagine the horror. -Near the prison building is the barracks (there were many many more, but those were knocked down), you'll learn how hundreds of prisoners were forced to sleep in tight quarters, use limited latrines and bath/shower facilities. -You'll also notice some burned parts of the barracks, which was caused by someone wanting to destroy the memories of the Jews. Overall, if you are visiting Berlin and have the time. You should definitely check out this concentration camp.

This place is sombering. It's also humonguous, so be prepared to spend half a day to a day there if you want the full experience. Upon entry, you'll be immerse in a memorial for the fallen. As you continue forth, you'll basically enter the camp. Its preserved primarily as it was, but with furnitures mostly removed. In place, you'll find exhibits of the people that existed there as well as the artifacts from there.

Before embarking on the 55 minute train ride to Sachsenhausen, the only former concentration camp located anywhere near Berlin, I was advised that the camp is a solid 20 minute walk away from the train station. "I'll just follow the signs" I said confidently before the person I was talking to said "there really aren't any". Thus is the dilemma, for while Sachsenhausen has been turned into a museum of sorts, it is perhaps a museum that the Germans would prefer nobody actually visit. So when you do visit it, exit the train station at Oranienberg and walk down the street to your right. When you arrive at the intersection you'll finally see signs directing you to your right again, then further signs leading you to the site. Sachsenhausen sits at the end of a street in a residential area with homes up and down the block. To learn of the horrors which occurred here and imagine families living right beside such horrors left me a little sick. It didn't help to learn that neighbors in the area yelled nastily at the prisoners as they were led down the long walk leading to the camp or to learn that neo-Nazis firebombed one of the remaining barracks as the site was being converted to a museum. I was left a little uneasy by both the camp and the town. Besides being told that there were no directional signs at the train station I was also told that the audio tour was too long. The person who told me this has an attention span 1/4 of my own so I disregarded her advice, opting for the audio tour instead of a guided tour. Wrong decision. Audio tours are not all created equal and this one is about 100% too long and not particularly well done. If you try to listen to the entire thing you'll be left standing in places, listening, long after your interest level has already gotten up and walked on. You may also be there upwards of 5 hours; it is that long. So go with a guided tour. It will cost you a little, but your experience will be far improved. There are many guided tours out there to choose from and most require no pre-booking (you just need to know when and where they meet). There is an incredible concentration of things to take in at Sachsenhausen so, if you try to do it on your own or via the not recommended audio guide, it will behoove you to take some time to figure out what you really want to see lest you get exhausted before you even get to those things. Before you ever get inside the actual gates of the camp (indicated by "Arbeit macht frei" - work makes you free (sic) - carved into the iron gate) there is a museum (and cafe). I'd forgo this museum and focus instead on the two barracks inside the camp. Their exhibits are more specific to Sachsenhausen. More than 200,000 people were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen. More than 50,000 were murdered there. The building and chambers where the cruel murders occurred (by gas and by gun) have been mostly destroyed but the ruinous foundation exists so you can see the size of each room and how the facility was laid out. You can also walk into the execution trench into which dead bodies were thrown. Whenever you find that you have had your fill take note: there is only one way into and out of the camp. You will likely have a substantial walk back to the building you entered through as well as that 20 minute walk back to the train station. Pace yourself. It's a long day. The yelp rating system really doesn't fit well for this sort of experience. My heritage and morals prevent me from saying it is 5-star or even 4-star. It is something to see and learn from and, if done via a guided tour I think you will come away very well informed, with little desire to ever again visit a concentration camp. Some things are worth doing only once and I would put Sachsenhausen into that category. It's not bad but also not an experience that I care ever to repeat. (Sachsenhausen is free to enter and the audio tour is free as well. If you wish to check out the audio tour you must leave your identification as a deposit).

After doing the free walking tour with Sandemans New Europe, the following day my sister and I went on their tour to Sachsenhausen. I had never heard of Sachsenhausen and had no idea there was a concentration camp near Berlin; if it weren't for Sandemans, I would never have known about it. While it wasn't necessary to go to Sachsenhausen with a tour group, it was helpful as they figure out the transit schedule and route for you (we took different routes going and returning), and the concentration camp is about a 20 minute walk from the Oranienburg train station. Since we were with a tour group we couldn't see things at our own pace (we never saw the cool artwork in the kitchen that other Yelpers mentioned!) and were surrounded by a crowd of pushy, inconsiderate people. But the positive of being with a tour is that the background and history of the concentration camp was explained, and our guide, Amy, was excellent. She really explained things in an interesting and easy to understand manner. It feels weird "reviewing" a concentration camp. It's a place of immense sadness and suffering, after all. Yet places like concentration camps are oddly fascinating for some reason. I learned a lot from my tour at Sachsenhausen, and I am very glad I discovered that it existed and was able to see it during my brief stay in Berlin.

I highly suggest, if you are vacationing in Berlin, to join in on one of the walking/train tours from there. That's what I did and it was so worth it. Our guide was an American who had personal ties to the site. His passion could be felt throughout the tour. I visited Sachsenhausen while on a two week vacation to Germany and the Czech Republic. I have never been moved so emotionally by a place before in my entire life. I will say that as an empath, the history of terrible atrocities on this land can be felt immediately as you enter the town. As a previous reviewer said, this is an emotionally draining trip. I would not have any other plans on the agenda on the day you visit Sachsenhausen. Sachsenhausen was one of the first concentration camps established. The most hopeful and positive story to come out of Sachsenhausen for myself was from the internees themselves. A group of internees worked in the camp's morgue and they were given cards to fabricate how someone died. People, obviously, didn't die of natural causes. The death certificates would have choices like heart attack, cancer, sickness. The internees thinking of the future, even while in the wretched camp, came up with a code. If someone was shot, the internees would mark it as heart attack or if someone was gassed, it would be labeled as cancer. They risked their lives to give future generations a way to find out what happened to their family members. These men are heroes. There is a gift shop whose funds go directly back into the upkeep of the site. They have an excellent selection of books and other media for all ages. Buy something and help keep the memorial in operation so that others can see for themselves what can result from hate.

This is my ninth visit to Berlin, but I hadn't previously visited Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The museum doesn't have traditional exhibits; rather, it has many photos and incredibly detailed information by each photo. We read everything and we learned a lot. We got some coffee at the café (it probably sounds strange to talk about a café at a concentration camp, but we were very tired and therefore we were actually very glad to get some coffee - and it was really good, too). Also, both of the people working in the café were friendly. The bookstore at the visitors' center has a good selection, and both of the people working there were very pleasant.

From 1936-1945, Sachsenhausen to Berlin's north served as a concentration camp and the headquarters for the Nazis in charge of implementing Hitler's Final Solution. Although mostly used for political prisoners (such as my roommate's grandfather who was held here until the end of WWII for printing and distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets), Sachsenhausen had a gas chamber and incinerator used to kill and dispose of the bodies of thousands of Soviet POWs, Jews, Roma, and homeless & disabled Berliners. In 1942 alone, over 600 gay men were taken into the brickworks here individually and bludgeoned to death as entertainment by soldiers. After the fall of the Nazi regime, the invading Soviets transformed Sachsenhausen into Special Camp No. 1 and proceeded to continue the atrocities by interning 60,000 political prisoners here. Excavations since German reunification have shown that an additional ~12,500 people died at the hands of the Russian interior ministry before Sachsenhausen's ultimate closing in 1950. Today the former concentration camp is a public memorial and museum that presents the horrors of mankind's cruelty in a disturbingly idyllic setting.

What can one say about this place. The memorial has done an amazing job keeping the few buildings left up and well kept. The history is very abundant and prevalent. Although the history is not nice it is important that these camps are kept to remind people of the past and why we shouldn't repeat it. I would suggest around 3 hours if you want to see every building, more time if you want to read all the details or listen to all the audio tour. I highly suggest renting the audio tour, it makes it easier if you're in a time crunch. Plus they have lots of little side stories that one can listen to about the camp. I, as well as most other people and even those actually affected, ask for respect. Think about if you should be posing infront of a building where people used to be housed before they were tortured.

My husband and I took the Sandeman's tour to Sachsenhausen on Christmas Day. I felt this was a good way to honor those who had perished during the holocaust. We took the train from Mitte to Oranienburg, to the same station that the prisoners went. We then walked the same path as the prisoners through the town. This was quite surreal doing this, because I could only imagine what the residents thought everyday, watching the "parade" of the poor people basically marching to their death. Our tour guide, Stephanie, was a great resource about the camp. Sachsenhausen was the "model camp" for all concentration camps, with a triangular shape so the guards to see all of the prisoners. Of course, this didn't work in the end because the camp was so over-populated at the end. The guards were rewarded with trips and money when they killed prisoners, so you can just imagine how cruel it was there. Go to Sachsenhausen to learn from the past to prevent it from ever happening again.

No issues of concern. I took a bus tour, so directions weren't an issue. I can see how you could be frustrated if you took the train as there are not too many directions near the train station. Pros: close proximity to the city of Berlin (30 mins.), you can see old Berlin wall checkpt. along the way as well as farm/coop/community originating in the 1960s?, clear maps and models on display before entering, audio guides and maps, and quite a few displays/exhibits to view, they laid beds of stone in shape of foundation for missing barracks to get a feel of how many were present Cons: most of the camp is not present (wow! it's a fairly large space and it's only 1/4 of how big the camp really was), most barracks are missing so it seems a little barren, eery but true...some of the neighbors owning homes feet from the camp claimed they had no idea what was next door (they claimed it was an industrial site) before buying the home???? The pics don't do it much justice, you have to be there to feel the lack of humanity lingering in the air. By the way, have an older friend who was at Auschwitz around 1950, I think, and said it was free to enter and hardly anyone visited. There were no tour guides or signs indicating what had happened. It was sort of like an old abandoned area.

Although Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen is so a bit far from the city, I think you at least to visit here once. It probably took an hour to get here from city center of Berlin. It's not some grand and fancy place, contradictory, this is museum that fill full of the saddest moments from the past, which no one should even forget, but need to forgive and take the hard lesson to move forward. This place is huge, inside has couple different museums and different collections, from the Jewish, homosexual victims to politicians. You can see how the prisoners like back then, where they slept. At this concentration camp most of prisoner were politicians, that's why the monument was full of red triangle. The monument sits in the middle of this place, you can see there are many many different triangles. If you interest at, what those triangles mean back then, you can look it up online. I have read some very detailed explanations. The life condition here was pretty awful. There couple area inside you could see from the model they keep and the documents they offer. When I reached the crematorium, it just brought me tears. I felt like I could still heard they screaming. There were many part in this place got me thinking. How war bring to the people and how much better condition we living now. It was a very sad adventure, but it did educated me a lot. I have also been to the concentration camp in Dachau couple year ago, compared with this, personal I do think Dachau even sadder. I have see some many documentary movies about this subject. But it isn't comparable when you actually visit it. It did get me very emotional. Thus, I do appreciate the fact that Germany did not hide this part of history from their educations and the world and trying to not forget, learn this. It's a very emotional place to visit, but it is a place worth to visit.i

Where to start with a review of a German concentration camp museum? I went because it was a great way to truly see where so many atrocities of mankind were performed. I realize that World War II was only decades ago, and this place really brings that to light. Nothing here felt "old", and I guess that's where the creepiness factor starts to raise its head. 70 years feels like a lot, but it really isn't... this place helps you to realize just how recent the war was. The kitchen in the basement stank of old, perhaps permanent piss and rotting potatoes and death. The "artwork" there helps you realize what truly occurred here. I wish that what went on here never occurs again, and the suffering of war currently existing across the world ceases. Why do we do this to ourselves? Electrified barbed-wire fences, kill zones, death pits, neck shot facilities... it is too bad that anyone had to go through this place or any of the other camps. When coming here, try not to think about it too much, or you'll leave in tears.

I visited Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp/ Memorial as part of a 6 hour tour, via Get Your Guide. Cost was circa £15 per person. Our guide George was excellent, meeting us in Berlin, telling us how to purchase our ABC train tickets (not included in tour cost, but are economical), walking us to, around and from the camp. I'm not going to say this was an enjoyable excursion - it wasn't - it was profoundly sad. I personally didn't want to do the tour, but one of my party did, so we all went, and I'm very glad I did. We saw the SS training camp, concentration camp, registration compound, Jewish Barracks, Jewish Museum, boot testing track, gallows, East German memorial, Station Z killing center, gas chamber and industrial yard. George was passionate and informative and through his words/ descriptions brought to life the harrowing, emotional, awful events and history of Sachsenhausen. If you have any interest at all in history, this tour is a must-do whilst in Berlin.

Traumatising. This has to be one of, if not the saddest places I've ever been in my life. The cold chill of the German air is Spring is enough to give you chills as you realise the horror surrounding you being in a concentration camp. I can't even describe how this place made me feel, as cliche as it sounds, you know something happened here the second you enter the complex. To know so many countless people lost their lives on the very ground you're standing on is heartbreaking. As traumatic and horrific the tour is, it is something I would recommend to all of my friends to do when I'm Berlin. To know this was the model for all further camps is mind boggling. I will never look at history the same way again after experiencing this horrible horrible place.

If you haven't visited a Nazi Concentration camp, it's a rough experience and well worth the time spent getting there and taking it all in. It is emotionally draining and makes one wonder about the nature of evil imbedded in all of us humans and how life's pathways play out so differently for the innocent and the guilty. Sachsenhausen was not a death camp like Auschwitz so it's not quite as rough to take in if you fear such. It is impressive and easy to reach by car from Berlin.

Must see if your in Berlin , just a quick train ride outside Berlin . It's good to see what kind of prisoners where held here and how it was after the war was over . A guided tour is best and nit that expensive . You have to be there to feel the silence , sadness and imagine the people walking around right where your standing .

Practical Details: Only open until 4:30pm in Winter. Regional train currently running only as far as Birkenwerder due to construction, but if you are on an ABC ticket from Berlin it is faster and more enjoyable to take the Regional Train from Berlin HBF. At the information Kiosk they'll tell you it takes 2 hours with the audioguide. This is certainly do-able,- however, if you find yourself very interested in one of the many stops on the tour and are reading many of the individual stories along the way, you'll use more time. As they keep an ID such as a driver's license when you rent the audioguide, I cut my visit slightly short to make sure I was back at the office at 4:30 to retrieve my ID. I learned when I returned that they do have a person who stays later to make sure people get their IDs back who come back to the office after closing time. So it is possible to stay inside the camp a little after closing time and still get your ID back. As for my visit, it was freezing and snow covered the site. As much as I tried to imagine the despair of being confined in such a desolate place, and so abused, and constantly living under the threat of torture and imminent death, I could not. But a sense of the suffering is palpable that went on behind these walls and behind the electrified fence just inside them that prisoners out of despair sometimes intentionally threw themselves on to end their lives, and behind the death strip just inside the electrified fence that if you stepped on entitled the guard with the machine gun to bonus pay for killing you, and behind the doors of the barracks where people were routinely beaten to death or drowned in latrines. "Man is a wolf to man" is an old Russian Proverb which came to my mind as I learned of the mass murder of ten-thousand Russian POWs on these grounds. The town of Oranienburg is quaint and signs of normal life go right up to the gates. The townspeople lived ordinary lives with murder in their backyards. You learn the world knew of Oranienburg as early as 1934 when Gerhart Seger, who had escaped, wrote the book Oranienburg detailing the brutality already taking place here. And you learn of the story of Georg Elser who out of a sense of the infinite nature of the tragedy that was unfolding tried very hard to kill Hitler in 1939 and came very close and was imprisoned here throughout most of the war. There are stories of people who resisted the Nazis, and stories of people who persisted in this forsaken place, and they testify to the human spirit's capacity to confront the worst. There are as many stories as you have time for, and grief as you have heart for. That the suffering was not in vain depends on our remembrance of the victims, and our resolve to challenge any creed that justifies inhumanity.

A feeling of anxiety & sadness came over me as we were approaching the gates of Sachsenhausen, Can't imagine the horror that happen behind those walls. This is a German concentration Camp located in Oranienburg, Germany. It was a big part of Holocausts German & Jewish history. A scene of thousands of executions 35 km north of Berlin. Life size pictures of prisoners were plastered all over the wall. A big sign that says "Arbeit Macht frei" greeted us at the gates which was suppose to mean Work Liberates..in German. This slogan is known for having been placed on entrances to a number of NAZI concentration camps and is suppose to be intended literally as a false promise that these prisoners worked to exhaustion would eventually be released...but rather a declaration that working endlessly brings a kind of spiritual freedom. Like all Nazi concentration camps, the conditions were barbaric and daily executions occur either by shooting or hanging. It was not originally intended as an extermination camp but eventually gas chambers were constructed to get rid of a number of prisoners by placing the liquid gas into the ventilation system thus killing them. The Camp was used primarily for political prisoners, and 200,000 prisoners passed through these gates from 1936 to 1945. It was also the training grounds for SS officers who would be sent to oversee other camps. It was also the site of the largest counterfeiting operations ever. The Germans forced prisoners to produce American & British currency as a plan to undermine the British & US countries. 30,000 inmates died there, by execution, disease, malnutrition or pneumonia. Looking at the prison cells gives me the creeps...pictures of the prisoners plastered on each cell...so you are basically looking at the victim right there. It was surreal. Now I can understand why my boss who is Jewish hates the Germans to the bone., but I also learned that Hitler also imprisoned a lot of Germans who does not want to follow him and that he was an Austrian. Today the Camp is a museum and there is a small shop at the entrance where you can purchase some score of memorabilias, like, books, tapes, videos,and brochures. It is opened daily to tourist and visitors. There is also a small cafe located inside one of the buildings. Bathrooms for both men & women are also provided . After the 5- tour which I find very informative, interesting and intoxicating at the same time...I was ready to get the hell out of there, to a more happy & lively atmosphere, so after a series of pictures at the allowed areas..(there were areas that says "No Pictures Allowed) we all went out looking for a place to eat before heading home. .

Pretty cool place very interesting something Americans never heard of, first camp that houses mainly political prisoners and Russian POWs. Advise to take the tour, took English tour guide was very good, dwelved to many topics never thoght about before About an hour from berlin hbf by train

Part of a tour during our visit for the Berlin Christmas markets we had booked via internet with SANDRA TURK who supplied a people carrier which was toasty warmOur driver was Jonas who spoke good english but my son and I tried out our german. He took us round parts of Berlin we hadn't seen before and then headed north to Sachsenhausen. It is a fair way out of Berlin but the time flew by It was deep snow but we joined the guided tour and saw round the whole campIt is a cold place and we are held in awe of what one people can do to others. Something to experience and feel''''''' To get warm again we visited the cafe at the camp entrance and had liqueur coffees ! Then back to our Hotel in Berlin.

The other commenters have nicely described the museum and the overall impact of the experience. It was really a remarkable experience even for those in our group that already knew a lot about the history of the mass extermination practices of the Nazis. This review will give a bit of an update on how we got to/from the Museum as that was the most challenging part. The museum arranges tours that depart three times a week directly from the Potsdamer Platz train station. We took the Sunday morning tour, which met at the base of the famous stoplight tower which is right there in front of the station. This is a common meeting place for tour guides of all types - I think you could pretty much show up here any day at about 10:15 and find a tour group. We accidentally joined the wrong tour for a bit and the standard price seems to be about 15 - 16 Eur. The morning we were there, tours were available in English and Spanish. Before leaving Potsdamer Platz, we bought our ABC Train ticket. We got the group pass which was just over 20Eur. We also went to a cafe nearby and bought lunch to take with us. There are a couple of places to eat in Oranienburg, there is a small cafe outside of the gates to the camp and a snack cafe in the museum just before you get to the main gate, but the timing of the tour makes those sorts of options a challenge for lunch. I'm with a group of people that has to eat regularly, so having food with us was a good option. We took the Regional Express (RE5) from Potsdamer Platz headed towards Rostock HbF. The trip only took about 30 minutes and Oranienburg was the third stop. Being with the guide made this a snap. Its about a 20 minute walk from the station to the Camp and Google will get you there if you aren't with the guide. We chose to take a taxi which was 7Eur. Lots of taxis waiting outside the train station to the left. With the 'official' guided tour you get a bit of an introduction to the camp via a slide presentation in the visitor center. The cost for this was 14 Eur with all of that money going to the museum (admission is free but the guides provide the service for which we are charged) The presentation was interesting, though it isn't necessary for understanding what went on here. Our group was about 40 people (it surprised our guide a bit that it was that large). This was a rather large group for a tour - particularly since we went inside some of the very cramped buildings. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours and we spent a little bit of time touring afterwards. We ate our lunch in the cafe which is in the back of the GDR era building outside the tower gate. They have sodas, coffee and a few snacks for sale and there are plenty of tables for sitting. The trip back was a little more challenging. The official guides don't guide you back (the private ones may). There isn't a taxi stand, so if you want to go that route, the nice people in the museum will call a taxi for you. Otherwise you have to retrace your steps (it isn't very well marked), so pay attention on the way out. There may be a bus that runs to/from the train station but it wasn't running on the Sunday that we were there. We couldn't manage to find the Regional back to Berlin and were a bit puzzled by the train schedule. After a bit of asking, we found that the S1 will go to Friedrickstrasse station - leaving from track 30. The S1 stops about 14 times before getting to the Friedrickstrasse station and takes about 45 minutes. From Friedrickstrasse, you can get the local trains to any other station in Berlin. The S1 leaves pretty frequently so there isn't much worry there. Our trip was in March - a relatively warm March Day (40 degrees) but dressing warmly was essential. The wind blows mournfully across that big, empty space and one is even more chilled by the very evil that went on there. Well worth the trip.

Best History Experience I've ever had. A real concentration camp. This was a real sobering place to be and it reminded me of any Midwest town in the U.S. but excluding the concentration camp. The camp buildings were torn down a long time ago but they made some replicas of the original building and the same walls still stand there as they did back in 1943. There is a longer history than the one ending in WW2 and one where Soviets released Hitlers Jews and political rivals and then imprisoned new political rivals and revolutionaries throughout the cold war. I recommend people to visit these camps to open their eyes to the world of human cruelty.

Sachsenhausen is a very interesting and well-curated concentration camp. The free audio guides are a must-do. Not only do they have descriptions and information, they have optional related stories or first-hand accounts that were some of my favorite things that I experienced that day. Sachsenhausen is not like Auschwitz or Dachau (not that I've visited those) in that it was not solely a prison camp, but due to its proximity to Berlin, it was a central training base and production center for the Nazi army. There was actually only a small section of the camp that was dedicated to Jewish prisoners. That section wasn't even part of the original camp section. This is the only concentration camp that was intentionally and thoroughly planned out before its construction. Its prisoners were actually the ones to build the better known camps like Auschwitz. The majority of the inmates were political prisoners. The camp was also used by Soviets after WWII, but I wasn't interested in that so I can't speak to the information on that. The camp is filled with both reconstructions of buildings with the actual original materials or original standing buildings. Many of the buildings no longer remain due to being destroyed by the Nazis themselves near the end or by Neo-Nazis who have since vandalized the place. One of the most interesting parts for me was the artwork. Artists were preserved because they could be used both to falsify identification/official documents as well as to illustrate propaganda. I have included a number of the artworks that I saw while there. There is A LOT to see, but it is also easy to avoid what you don't want to see. For example, I can't handle hearing about medical "treatments" (experiments) but that was important for my boyfriend to see so I spent the time listening to other things on my audio guide. It was a good first concentration camp for me to visit as it's not as intense as I've heard accounts of Auschwitz, etc. and it is also extremely easy to access from Berlin so it's not as much of a trek as other concentration camps that were intentionally placed in more desolate areas. There are also many available restrooms throughout and one cafe, which is good to know.

This was our favorite thing we did while in germany. the camp was just filled with incredible amounts of history and information and walking around in the camp itself was surreal and eerie. We did not have a lot of time since we slept in and it took a little bit of time to get here on the S-train (which we called the SLOW train), but we saw everything in the 90 minutes we were there. I highly recommend that everyone see this camp if in Berlin, it was quite the experience.

The site is interesting and give rise to a lot of emotions, mostly sad ones. I took the audio guide, which was VERY extensive. In fact, it was way too much information, which made the visit somewhat less good as you lost much of the essentials. Also there are not very good information boards there. However, the place is worth a visit.

As another reviewer said, this seems like the sort of thing that's a difficult fit with the whole concept of Yelp, but I did want to share a little about my experience. We visited in mid January 2015. It was not clear to us until we were leaving that they close at 4:30pm in the winter. We were there after that, thinking it closed at 6pm. I think they just don't let anyone new in after 4:30. Still, once it gets dark, it takes on a whole new dimension of sadness and terror. I was very affected by my visit. I am Jewish and did lose family in the Shoah, but I'm sure any human being who visits a place like this and thinks about what went on here and elsewhere would be equally impacted. I love taking pictures of all my travels, but when I saw the pit where executions took place, and the crematorium, I put my camera down - I just felt it was too awful to even take a photograph of. I just wanted to sit in the silence and consider what happened. That portion where the ruins of the crematorium are covered, and there's a memorial in the center was the most emotional for me. We had planned on doing a guided tour but changed our plans and went later in the day, so we saw it on our own. Do allow plenty of time to see it - we were a little rushed, but frankly by the end of our visit, when it was snowing and completely dark, we didn't feel like lingering. In terms of getting to the memorial, I didn't see any sign at the train station to guide us in the right direction. Once I figured it out, it was a pretty easy walk. Actually, if you have cellular data available, google walking directions worked very well. If you visit Berlin, its well worth your time to visit this place.

Went here in 2010. A very sobering place. I gave four stars and while four stars is supposed to mean 'yay i'm a fan' it's really me saying this was a very educational experience. I snuck behind a guided tour and learned a lot. The sign on the gate read, in German, "Work will set you free". This place makes you question if we have really evolved behind being simple animals.

Very organized and well maintained concentration camp, I wouldn't recommend the audio guide, they talk way too much.

The grounds are very well maintained, and we spent a number of hours here. The only thing I would recommend is not getting the audio guide. Even though it is only 3 euros, the guide offers way too much information that is much more easily read on the free pamphlet. There is a nice cafe and the grounds offer good presentation of such a harrowing place. Definitely dedicate at least a few hours.

When I went to Sachsenhausen, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I was ready to buy souvenirs, thinking it would have semblance of a museum. I immediately felt its' starkness. Emotions went from anticipation to antipathy, a kind of animus I never before felt came over me. The quarters/barracks, the guides explanations, the visuals, and mostly the killing pits and ovens made me a changed man, a changed forever person. Now, in 2015, as an American, the relationship I see between Barak Obama, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry et. al. and Bibi Netanyahu and Israel is more than troubling..... it brings back that animus I felt while walking the tour of Sachsenhausen. If in Berlin do not miss this opportunity to see ugly, because you will appreciate the beauty when it too shows, and you will join me in saying, 'NEVER AGAIN' Two other things I would mention. This had more of an impact on me than even the Holocaust Museums in Washington, D.C., and Israel. Also, I would like to pay tribute to the German Chancellor in 2015, Angela Merkel, for her leadership that is so understanding of the past evil, and her efforts to repair the wrong.