The overnight train was great – smooth, comfy, clean and secure. A great way to maximise the days in Europe. Even better was the fact that our hotel let us in the room at 7:30 am to freshen up… couldn’t have asked for a better transition between cities. No time to waste…
A quick turnaround, and we headed out to Dachau concentration camp. We weren’t sure how Alex would respond, but the combination of a very tastefully done memorial, and child who is conscious of current affairs and history meant that we were all really pleased that we went.
The gates at Dachau bore the words of so many Nazi concentration camps – “Work Makes you Free” – a stark contrast to what happened inside the gates.
After the prisoners were liberated in April 1945, the camp was used as a refugee camp, and then later the barracks were knocked down. The barracks had been designed for 50 men, but had housed 2000 at times – so hard to comprehend.
The old maintenance building (in the photo below) now houses the museum. In front is a memorial to the prisoners which includes the sculpture of prisoners attempting to climb through the electrified barbed wire fence which would have ended their life – its believed that some chose this fate rather than continue with life inside the camp.
In the late 60s, the survivors started to establish a memorial at the site. There is a museum, Catholic and Russian Orthodox chapels, a Carmelite Convent, Jewish memorial and a Protestant church on the site. When you consider that so many wars are fought over religious differences, it was interesting to see religions standing side by side just as the men would have shown solidarity during their days in the camp.
On a lighter note, we headed out to the BMW campus late this afternoon. The headquarters were opened in 1972 just before the Summer Olympics and were designed to look like car cylinders. ‘BMW Welt’ was opened in 2007 and is used as a showroom, conference space and delivery centre. Both buildings are striking pieces of architecture, regardless of your motoring affiliations 🙂
Last stop, dinner at Marienplatz – Munich’s city centre. A little taste of the old parts of Munich which we’ll explore properly over the next couple of days.
Love M & theBunch xx
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