Dachau Memorial

Dachau concentration camp opened on March 22, 1933, seven weeks after the Nazis came to power. It was the first camp in the Reich and the organizational model for every camp that followed. Over twelve years, more than 200,000 prisoners were held here; at least 43,000 died. The memorial site preserves the gatehouse with its “Arbeit macht frei” inscription, two reconstructed barracks, the camp prison known as the bunker, and the crematorium. The permanent exhibition documents the camp’s full history from 1933 to liberation by American forces on April 29, 1945. Admission is free. Getting there from Munich is straightforward: S2 S-Bahn to Dachau station, then bus 726. Allow at least three hours. For Austrian travelers, this is not just a German site. Austria was annexed in 1938, and Austrian prisoners were among the first held here. The history is shared.