Lohheide offers two distinct reasons to visit: the Bergen-Belsen Memorial is dedicated to the history of the former concentration camp, while the Bürgerpark invites visitors to enjoy long walks and experience nature. When planning your stay, you can make historical remembrance a focus of its own or set aside time for a longer walk. Various forms of information and remembrance complement one another on the grounds of the memorial.
Bergen-Belsen Memorial: information and historic traces
A documentation centre was built on the grounds of the former concentration camp. There, visitors can find detailed information about the events of that time. More than 70,000 people died there by 1945.
Nine relief models explain the individual camp areas. They are accompanied by 17 stelae with short texts and photographs providing information about the history of the camp and individual buildings. The models provide an overview of the camp areas; the stelae complement this spatial depiction with brief explanations and images. Visitors to the historic camp grounds thus encounter both the layout of the site and information about its history.
Memorial sites and structural remains
People who died in the concentration camp in the final weeks before and immediately after liberation are buried on the memorial grounds in 14 mass graves and 15 individual graves. The obelisk, visible from afar, and the inscription wall were erected at the initiative of the British military administration and inaugurated in November 1952. The wall bears inscriptions from many countries, as well as texts in Yiddish, Hebrew and Latin.
The House of Silence was dedicated in 2000 as an accessible sculpture and a place for quiet reflection. Another testament to the former camp complex is the foundation walls of a disinfection building near the former main entrance to the camp grounds. They have been preserved and were secured and reinforced in 2016. Together, these sites point to different aspects of the memorial: individual and collective remembrance, the creation of a place for reflection, and structural remains of the historic site.
Walks in Lohheide and trails in the Celle travel destination
As a different focus in Lohheide, the Bürgerpark invites visitors to experience nature on long walks. Alongside a visit to the memorial, this offers an outdoor activity that is not tied to a single historical subject. If you would like to include both in your travel plans, you can consider these different interests separately rather than turning them into a prescribed route.
In the wider travel destination of Celle, the Südheide Nature Park offers further opportunities for active days. There are ten signposted themed cycling routes with a total length of more than 400 kilometres. They lead to notable sights and through heathland, forests, heathland streams, and moorland and pond landscapes. For hiking, the nature park offers 23 themed hiking trails, five nature trails and three long-distance hiking trails. The options listed already differ in their format, from themed routes and nature trails to long-distance hiking trails. When planning, you can decide whether a cycling route, a shorter nature trail or a long-distance hiking trail better suits your plans.
Canoeing on the heathland streams in the district of Celle is another regional option. It is permitted with restrictions each year from 16 May to 14 October. Check local restrictions and water levels before setting out. A trip to Lohheide therefore offers a choice of different focuses: the historic and structural remains at the memorial, long walks in the Bürgerpark, or cycling and hiking options in the wider travel destination of Celle.
Discover more destinations: Nordburg, Winsen / Aller, Eldingen, Ahnsbeck, Wietze, Eschede, Langlingen, Oberohe.
Go to the main travel overview: Celle.
