Camp Hohne, Military training complex in Lohheide, Germany
Camp Hohne is a military complex in Lohheide, a heathland area in northern Germany, made up of firing ranges, troop quarters, and a large military cemetery. The site sits directly next to the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and also contains memorial grounds and documentation areas open to the public.
The site was set up in 1935 as a Wehrmacht training ground, and several villages in the area were cleared and demolished to make room for it. After the end of the second world war, British forces took over and used it first to care for survivors from the nearby concentration camp.
The grounds hold one of Germany's largest military cemeteries, where soldiers from both world wars and victims from the nearby Bergen-Belsen camp are buried. Visitors walking through this cemetery can read the grave markers and follow the different sections, each belonging to a different period of history.
Parts of the site, in particular the Bergen-Belsen memorial and the military cemetery, are open to visitors, while other areas stay off-limits due to active military use. It is worth checking in advance which sections are accessible and whether any specific guidelines apply during your visit.
When British soldiers liberated Bergen-Belsen in 1945, they set up emergency field hospitals on the grounds of Camp Hohne because survivors needed urgent medical care on site. Some of those who did not survive their injuries and illnesses despite treatment were buried in the military cemetery that still stands on the complex today.
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