During the final stages of WWII, when Hitler’s grand plan turned to conducting war from underground bunkers, Mittelbau Dora was established as a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp , after British bombers destroyed missile plants in Peenemünde. At least 20,000 prisoners were worked to their deaths here. After years of decay under the GDR, the memorial today gives an insight into the horrors that unfolded here, and includes a modern museum that explains the background of the camp and the experiences of the prisoners.
From late 1943, thousands of mostly Russian, French and Polish POWs (many who had survived Auschwitz) toiled under horrific conditions digging a 20km labyrinth of tunnels in the chalk hills north of Nordhausen, within which were built the V1 and V2 rockets that rained destruction on London, Antwerp and other cities during the final stages of the war. The US army reached the gates in April 1945, cared for survivors and removed all missile equipment before turning the area over to Russia.
Visitors are free to roam the grounds, crematorium and museum. The tunnels (which are the diameter of an aircraft hangar) are only accessible on free 90-minute guided tours, which run at 11am and 2pm Tuesday to Friday and at 11am, 1pm and 3pm on weekends. Within the dank walls you can see partially assembled rockets that have lain untouched for over 70 years.
There is limited public transport to the site, which is best reached by private vehicle. The nearest station (tram 10 and Harzquerbahn from Nordhausen) is Nordhausen-Krimderode, from where it's a 20-minute walk.
