Visit of the Struthof, the former concentration camp of Natzweiler: my review and practical information

My review of the Struthof visit

Where is the Natzweiler camp? Natzwiller, in the Bruche Valley

The former Natzweiler-Struthof camp is located in Natzwiller, in the Bas-Rhin, more precisely near Schirmeck in the Bruche Valley.

Conseil : le Struthof est à 15 minutes en voiture du Mémorial de l’Alsace-Moselle, les deux visites se combinent dans la journée, d’autant qu’un billet combiné existe pour les deux sites.

Why visit Struthof?

The Struthof is a very important memorial site in Alsace and even in France: it is located on the site of the only concentration camp set up in France during the Second World War. I think it’s important to make such a visit. The Struthof is the kind of place that horrifies but also makes you think and never forget what happened. An essential duty to remember, so that this never happens again.

How to visit the Struthof ?

The visit to the Struthof is a self-guided tour that includes several different sites:

How long for the complete visit?

Count on between 2 and 3 hours to visit the entire site, and about 1 hour if you visit only the camp (which I don’t advise: visiting the museum and the CERD is essential in addition, in my view).

Tip: plan for a good 2 to 3 hours; it’s worth visiting the entire site and all the exhibitions.

Museum and CERD: start the visit with the exhibitions

I advise you to start your visit to the Struthof by visiting the museum and the European Center for Deported Resistance Fighters, which are a good introduction to the camp visit. You need to visit both buildings:

• the museum, located in a former barrack
• the European Center for Deported Resistance Fighters (CERD), which houses the permanent exhibition

The exhibitions tell the story of the camp but also more generally the history of the Second World War and the resistance movements that arose in Europe, as well as the terrible killing organization of the Nazi concentration camp system. I found the Struthof exhibitions particularly well done: they provide numerous testimonies and objects that help understand life in the camp as well as the Nazis’ insane projects in general.

Tip: start here; the exhibitions give you the keys before walking through the camp. Remember to ask for the free audio guide.

Former Natzweiler concentration camp: the historical site

After visiting the museum, you visit the KL (Konzentrationslager) Natzweiler. It goes without saying that visiting such a place is extremely sad and moving. You walk here in the footsteps of prisoners who lived through terrible suffering; the place is striking.

The atrocities committed at the Struthof contrast with the beauty of the location, Mont Louise, which offers a superb view of the surrounding Vosges. Here is a quote from Léon Boutbien, a French deportee: “Those who admire the natural beauty of this summit will not be able to believe that this mountain is cursed because it sheltered the hell of free men.”

Struthof gas chamber: the annex below the camp

You need to walk about 20 minutes to reach the former gas chamber, located 1.5 km below the camp—another terrifying place… An annex of the inn located just opposite, this room had several uses:

• in 1941, it was used to confine the first deportees
• it was then used to store food supplies
• from 1943 onward, it became a gas chamber: it was used to train SS in wearing gas masks, then series of experiments on phosgene gas were conducted on prisoners there
• 86 men and women were murdered there for the creation of an anatomical collection of Jewish skeletons intended for the Reichsuniversität Straßburg

Memorial to the Heroes and Martyrs of Deportation and national necropolis

You’ll also find at the Struthof a National Necropolis containing 1,118 graves of people who died in deportation. A memorial has been installed there:

• the Memorial to the Heroes and Martyrs of Deportation, officially inaugurated in 1960 by General de Gaulle, then President of the French Republic
• 40 meters high and visible from the valley, it represents a flame and displays the emaciated silhouette of a deportee
• the body of the unknown deportee, symbol of all victims of deportation, is placed inside the vault at the foot of the Memorial, along with 14 urns containing symbolic earth or anonymous ashes from concentration camps in Germany

History of the Natzweiler concentration camp

Creation of the camp in 1941: the exploitation of pink granite

The KL Natzweiler camp was created in 1941 on the orders of Himmler, the head of the SS, in order to exploit a vein of pink granite discovered in Natzwiller for the benefit of the Reich’s major construction work. On May 1, 1941, the Konzentrationslager Natzweiler was officially opened at a place called “Struthof”.

At first, the camp only received prisoners from other concentration camps, but in 1942 it became an “open” camp, i.e. it could receive prisoners sent directly by the Nazi security services (Sipo). At the end of 1942, the prisoners were also assigned to repair airplane engines for the German Air Force (Luftwaffe).

A crematorium and a gas chamber were installed at KL Natzweiler. The Nazis also created a network of more than 50 satellite camps attached to the main Natzweiler camp, on both sides of the Rhine.

One of the deadliest camps in the Nazi system

About one-third of the deportees perished there: the Struthof is one of the deadliest concentration camps in the Nazi system.

• more than 2,400 prisoners designated Nacht und Nebel (night and fog), a code name for opponents of the Reich destined to disappear through slow and painful death in the utmost secrecy, were sent there
• the camp was also the site of a series of horrific pseudo-medical experiments (experiments on combat gases, related to a typhus vaccine…)

From 1944 onward, due to the advance of the Allies, the main camp and its satellite camps on the left bank of the Rhine were evacuated and transferred to Germany, mainly toward Dachau in Bavaria. Thus, Natzweiler continued to exist nonetheless through its satellite camps located on the right bank of the Rhine.

Liberation of the camp: who liberated the Struthof?

The main camp of KL Natzweiler was discovered by the Americans on November 25, 1944. Emptied of its occupants, it was the first KL discovered in Western Europe. Its definitive end came only with the evacuation of the satellite camps located in Germany in March/April 1945.

To continue exploring this period of Alsace’s history, you can also visit MM Park in La Wantzenau, with its military vehicles and play area for children.

What to remember about this memorial site

• 🕯️ A site that brings together museum, CERD, camp, gas chamber, necropolis, and memorial
• ⏱️ Count on 2 to 3 hours to see everything, and start with the museum and the CERD
• 🚗 Come by car (free parking) or on foot from Rothau station via the Deportees’ Path
• 🧭 Combine the visit with the Alsace-Moselle Memorial in Schirmeck, 15 minutes away

Your questions about visiting the former Natzweiler camp