Sachsenhausen Memorial: Guided Half-Day Tour from Berlin

Your tour begins at Friedrichstraße train station

Meet your guide outside Friedrichstraße train station on the square beside the Tränenpalast, also known as the Palace of Tears. Look for the guide holding a yellow umbrella, then board the S-Bahn together for the journey north.

Travel by train to Oranienburg

Ride the S-Bahn for 35 minutes through Berlin's northern suburbs to Oranienburg, the town where Sachsenhausen was built. Your guide explains how this quiet community became intertwined with one of Nazi Germany's earliest camps.

Walk through Oranienburg to the memorial

Pass former SS villas that were built by camp inmates. Your guide shares how the town collaborated with the Nazi regime and how these elegant homes housed high-ranking officials while prisoners suffered nearby.

Enter through the camp gates

Go beneath the iron gate with its chilling slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free). Your guide explains how Sachsenhausen became a model camp in 1936, designed to demonstrate absolute SS control over prisoners and train guards for camps across Europe.

Stand in the roll call square

Step into the vast triangular courtyard where prisoners were forced to stand for hours in all weather. Your guide describes daily roll calls, public executions at the gallows, and how the camp's layout was designed to intimidate and control.