Lohheide: Bergen-Belsen Memorial and Bürgerpark

Lohheide brings together two distinct themes: at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial, historical evidence and forms of remembrance take center stage; Bürgerpark invites you to enjoy long walks in nature. If you are looking for a hotel in Lohheide, these themes can help you decide whether the area's history or nature will shape your trip. The wider Celle travel destination also offers cycling, hiking and cultural activities.

Bergen-Belsen Memorial: History and Remembrance

A documentation center was built on the site of the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. There, visitors can learn in detail about the events of that time. More than 70,000 people died there by 1945. Engaging with this history is therefore inseparable from the site itself.

People are buried in 14 mass graves and 15 individual graves on the memorial grounds. They died in the concentration camp during the final weeks before and immediately after its liberation.

The obelisk, visible from far away, and the inscription wall were erected at the behest of the British Military Administration and inaugurated in November 1952. The wall bears inscriptions from many countries, as well as inscriptions in Yiddish, Hebrew and Latin.

Nine relief models explain the individual camp areas. In addition, 17 information panels with short texts and photographs provide information about the camp's history and individual buildings. The models and panels cover different aspects: the camp areas are the focus in one case, while the other offers short texts, photographs and information about individual buildings.

The House of Silence was dedicated in 2000 as an accessible sculpture and a place for quiet reflection. Near the former main entrance to the camp grounds, the foundations of a disinfection building have been preserved; they were secured and reinforced in 2016. The site therefore includes both a place for reflection and structural traces of the camp's history.

Nature in Lohheide and Activities in the Celle Travel Destination

Bürgerpark in Lohheide invites you to experience nature on long walks. This gives you the option of making time in nature a focus of your trip alongside the memorial's historical themes.

In the wider Celle travel destination, Südheide Nature Park has ten signposted themed cycling routes covering more than 400 kilometers in total. They lead to notable sights and pass through heathland, forests, heathland streams, and moor and pond landscapes. There are also 23 themed hiking trails, five discovery trails and three long-distance hiking trails. This gives you a choice of different signposted cycling and hiking options.

Canoeing on the heathland streams in Celle district is permitted with restrictions each year from May 16 to October 14. Check local restrictions and water levels before setting out.

The Region Celle Navigator is an interactive tour portal for planning your trip. It brings together information about cycling, hiking and riding routes, as well as places to eat and stay, sights, museums and heathland in Südheide Nature Park and throughout Celle district.

A walk through the city's history is another option in the wider Celle travel destination: the tour through Celle's Old Town is a very easy 3.22-kilometer walk from Celle Ducal Palace to the synagogue in Celle. There are almost 500 half-timbered houses in central Celle. You can complement the cycling and hiking options with a walk through the Old Town.

Discover more destinations: Eicklingen, Müden, Oldendorf, Habighorst, Langlingen, Celle, Eldingen, Hambühren

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