Day 8 Dachau Concentration Camp

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View from Rothenburg
Guten morgen, Rothenburg. This is such a beautiful and charming town. I would have liked to have more time to explore the fortification wall, or venture down into the nearby valley. Time did not accommodate for these desires, but that did not make our time in Rothenburg any less special. This morning we had a splendid view of the valley from the hotel restaurant. Once breakfast was done Mom and I made a quick run out to a nearby overview so that we could gaze upon the lush greenery of the valley before loading up in the bus once more. I love the cobblestone streets, lovely buildings and truly medieval feeling of the town.  Someday Rothenburg, I hope to return to you, and when I do I would love to walk down the hill side and explore that beautiful green area. Of course it would be hard to leave the beauty of the town behind. I honestly think that two nights in Rothenburg would be ideal, however I understand too that there is not a lot to be done in the area as some of our tour companions pointed out. All the same Rothenburg is just another beautiful place in Germany to love.

​Next stop: Dachau Concentration Camp.

ARBEIT MACHT FREI literally translates to Work Makes Free or Work Will Set You Free - for many freedom was death

Once on the bus it was a few hours drive to our next destination along the way (Rick Steves and Europe require that busses stop every two hours for a bathroom break. There is an actual micro-chip somewhere in the bus that tracks the activities of the driver and they can be fined if they do not stop appropriately). World War II impacted Europe more than I could ever explain. Already we have seen the lingering effects of that horrible time in history along our path thus far with Remembrance day and Liberation day in the Netherlands.

Today we are going to Dachau, one of many concentration camps set up across Europe. Unlike Auschwitz, Dachau is not known for being a death camp despite the gas chambers located on the premises.  There is a debate as to whether these chambers were ever used for that purpose. In early 1933 this concentration camp was set up for political prisoners. This particular camp was designed as a model for all later concentration camps. It was also a training base for the SS men. As a result it was later called a "school of violence" due to the training and torturing that went on here. This particular camp was active for 12 years, in which time it saw 200,000 prisoners. Of those 200,000 it is said that 41,500 of the prisoners were murdered. This particular camp was liberated by US troops on April 29th, 1945.
Left: Map of Concentration camps across Europe. Dachau is marked with the red marker.
We entered one of the old barracks, barracks A which was built in 1933. It was then reconstructed in 1965 when Dachau became a memorial site controlled by the government, which is one reason why it is so clean (as compared to Auschwitz which, per our guide, has been left in ruin).

Dachau was considered a "picture perfect" camp, or an example of how the camps were supposed to be set up and run.  Eventually even this camp became overcrowded like the others. Dachau was built to house 6,000 prisoners "comfortably". Needless to say it did not take long before this camp was grossly overcrowded. One year later in the month of November 11,000 German and Austrian Jews were shipped to Dachau in addition to other political opponents. This number already nearly doubled the camp's capacity and this was only the beginning.

To the side you see examples of how some of the annexes would have looked, although I imagine that they would have been grossly overcrowded. We saw a few examples of how the bunks were set up. The designs of the beds changed in an attempt to keep up with the growing population of prisoners.
​Dachau is also infamous for the medical experiments that were done there. These started in 1942.

In 1944 there were over 63,000 prisoners in Dachau and surrounding smaller camps. Due to the gross over population and horrible living conditions there was an outbreak of typhus which killed thousands in addition to the thousands who died while working. It is for this reason that they were then forced to build additional crematoriums to handle the astronomical numbers of dying prisoners. For additional information I will include the link to the website for Dachau: Information on Dachau. 
It was a sobering experience. Compared to the other wonders we have witnessed along the way this was certainly an eye opener of the torture and cruelty that humans are capable of. It brings the war to life. My heart hurt for those thousands and thousands of people who shared the foot space of that camp with me through the years. Trying to imagine what took place just 70 years ago is still almost impossible. However, until you are there you cannot even begin to imagine what it might have looked like. May 5, 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau. We were there on May 8th, 2015. There were flowers placed at the markers for the barracks as well as placed around the international monument in memory. 

After walking out to the crematorium I decided that I had seen enough of the camp. I made my way back toward the bus. Due to the odd schedule of the day Dimitri and Richard had left for a little bit to fetch some food for our lunches. When we reached the bus they had several plastic bags  which they were handing out to everyone.  Everyone got half a chocolate bar (some of the most delicious chocolate I have ever had!), half a banana, half an apple and a pretzel. It was a nice little lunch which we ate in the shade of some nearby trees while we waited for everyone to return. It was very thoughtful and very delicious! It was also a good time to reflect on what we had seen, experienced, and felt on the lands of the concentration camp.
PictureHerzlich willkommen am Heiligen Berg translates to Welcome to the Holy Mountain
Once everyone had returned from the camp we loaded back into the bus for another couple hours drive to Andechs, a little town on a hill (complete with a maypole!) with a beer garden where we were going to stop, get a bite to eat and enjoy the sights of the town. 

Here we found a restroom (cost 0,50 euro) as well as many options for tasty food. I purchased a slice of blueberry cheesecake. Emily went halfsies with group mate, Julie, on a steckerl-fische. After purchasing the fish they met a guy nearby who removed the bones for them. Then they could go and enjoy their fish. Yum!

Mom bypassed the food and hiked up the hill to the Klosterkirche or the Andechs Monastery. She came back down to find me hanging out with Emily and Julie and the fish. Together we hiked back up the hill to the monastery and then across the courtyard to the scenic view of Andechs. At this point we had to turn around and head back down the hill to meet everyone back at the bus so we could continue on our way.
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View from the Holy Mountain.
Back on the bus we drove through amazing green countryside. There were flowers in the fields, trees waving at us as the wind tickled their leaves. Everything seemed so perfect and in its place. It seemed that we were going off the main road, crawling over countryside with a purpose in mind. We came around the corner and up on a small hill was a beautiful church out here in the middle of a meadow. Wieskirche is a 18th century church in the most enchanting place I have ever been. The building style is Baroque and also has a Rococo style to it. One of the guests to this church, writer Peter Dorfler, wrote, "The Wies is a bit of heaven in this suffering world." The inside of the church is certainly out of this world! (For more information check out this site.)

I loved this church from the outside in. The setting was absolutely perfect! The sun, the sky, the flowers and the meadows, the breeze kissing our cheeks in welcome. Dimitri led the way into the church where he turned around to watch as we all entered. Later he said that seeing our expressions as we entered was his favorite part. This church is absolutely awe inspiring! The pictures don't do it justice but it can give you an idea of what we saw. Beautiful!
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The maypole is used as a celebration of summer especially in the Bavarian Alps. The maypole depicts emblems showing local crafts and industry. Traditional colors are blue and white.
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After stopping in our lovely meadow church we continued on our way to the town we will be staying in tonight, Reutte, Austria. It was strange, at this point, to reflect on our activities of the day: Dachau with its terrible history, the Andechs beer garden, and this lovely church. So many emotions in one day, however the emotional rollercoaster had not yet pulled into the station. Along the way to Reutte we spotted tomorrow's adventure waiting for us up on the side of the mountain! It was Neuschwanstein Castle, Sleeping Beauty's castle! Well, Poor (Mad) King Ludwig's castle. It was such a beautiful and exciting sight! My own heart leapt into my throat out of excitement.  I think the bus jumped when we all went to the windows on the left side of the bus to get a view of the infamous castle perched up on the mountain. Wow! 
Once we saw the lovely castle on the mountain side it was not too much further until we reached our hotel, the Hotel Maximillian. It was a very comfortable hotel right away. We muscled our luggage up a couple flights of stairs (there was a long line for the lift). Our room was so worth it though. We had a spacious room with two beds just as you enter the room. In this part of the room we have a balcony (with a view of castle ruins up on the mountain) and the bathroom. A short hallway takes you over to the other part of the room where there was a bunk bed and another sink. The view from this room looked out over a rooftop and off to the distant mountains. With a blue sky sparsely covered with clouds it was a beautiful day outside! It was a very nice room, but we were excited to go and see the town before dinner, so we settled in and then took to the streets.

Love comes in the small details which included a little wooden disk with our room number (#11) on it. There was also a little map in the room of the town. From our balcony we could hear the gentle mooing of cows and the distant ring of cow bells. It set the mood for a lovely stroll. 
Down on the streets of the town we saw many cute houses. Some looked like cuckoo clock houses. The homes seemed so ornate and beautiful. It felt comfortable as I walked through the streets. There was not a lot going on at the time. We had a couple of cars pass us, but for the most part it was quiet. We saw some cows in a barn and could hear their cowbells (exciting!). We found a field full of yellow flowers and some white flowers spread throughout. The mountains were beautiful in contrast with the stormy skies. Clouds were gray and streaked across the sky showing impending rain. We did not wander too far away from the hotel since we only had an hour or so until dinner. Slowly we made our way back toward the hotel. Once we got back within a block of the hotel we still had a little bit of time so I split away, ignoring the periodic droplets of rain threatening us, and walked up another road. I saw more cows in their barns and other beautiful buildings. As I walked it began to rain a little harder. It was then that I decided to head back to the hotel.
By the time I arrived at dinner many of the chairs were taken. There was an empty table over in the corner though, which I took. Emily and Mom soon came down to join me. It was not long after that until we had our food before us and we could begin eating. Richard sat with us again this evening and so we got to learn a bit more about him. He was up and down throughout the meal though talking with family. Hopefully everything was alright. Other than that it was a wonderful dinner and tasty dessert. The menu for the evening is to the right. Enjoy the pictures! I love food pictures!
After dinner and a quiz from our wonderful host, Gabby, (information about Austria) we headed on up to bed. Before bed Mom and I tried to go down into the lobby (the only place you could get internet without paying for it). However the internet was very slow due to the ten or so people trying to get on. After a few failed messages we decided it truly was time for bed. By this time it was nearly 10. We had an early morning start too as we had decided to go on the optional walk with Dimitri before visiting the castles. So I guess that is it for tonight. I am very excited about tomorrow. Seeing Neuschwanstein is one of the things that I was most excited about. So cheers! I am looking forward to it! Gute nacht!