In the summer of 1937, prisoners were forced to begin building the Buchenwald concentration camp on Weimar's local mountain, the Ettersberg. Today, Buchenwald is a symbol of the radical consequences with which people were excluded from society under National Socialism.

From 1945 to 1950, the Soviets used the site for a special camp; after 1958, the GDR expanded the "National Memorial" into Germany's largest concentration camp memorial. It was redesigned after 1990 and opened to commemorate the fate of other groups of victims. Today, new exhibitions provide a view of the contexts of the crimes. The history of Buchenwald and Weimar offers a unique historical sounding board for historical and political education work. There is hardly any other place where access to the past can be gained in a way that makes both the possibilities and the limits of human action tangible.

(the former gate building and crematorium are accessible between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., multimedia guides can be borrowed from the visitor information center)