Stalag VII A Moosburg

Moosburg a.d. Isar (Bavaria) was the site of one of the largest POW camps in the former German Reich, Stalag VII A, from 1939-45 during World War II. More than 150,000 POWs were registered in this camp and deployed in work detachments in the southern Bavarian region. After the war, it served as an internment camp, and from 1948 the site was used for settlement by expellees.

The Stalag Moosburg e.V. association aims to research and document the history of the POW camp and its subsequent developments. With international and intercultural meetings with citizens, visitors and relatives of former prisoners of war, events and projects the association wants to help to preserve the historical heritage of the town in a way that is appropriate for the present and the future. On this website, the association brings together information from a variety of sources for citizens and visitors.

Access & Map

Memorials & Museums

Guided tours & Contact

Projects

Moosburg - Place of Remembrance

There were only a few initiatives in the decades after the end of the war that wanted to commemorate the former prisoner of war camp Stalag VII A. Thus, at the instigation of individual personalities, a memorial fountain was erected by the town of Moosburg in 1963, and in 1982 the grounds of the former POW cemetery were purchased and established as a memorial site. A historical reappraisal did not take place until recently. As in many other cities, the unpleasant past was suppressed. Thus, the barrack buildings of the former camp gradually disappeared except for a few remnants. However, they form an ensemble with original substance that is unique in Germany. The discussion about how to deal with the remaining monuments is still ongoing. A rich fund of photos, artworks and contemporary testimonies has been archived, but is currently only accessible to the public to a limited extent.

Kinder und Enkel der Kriegsgeneration haben jedoch zunehmend Interesse an ihrer eigenen Geschichte. Dies zeigen auch die hohen Besucherzahlen an vielen bekannten NS-Gedenkorten. Das Stalag VII A in Moosburg war kein Konzentrationslager und diente nicht der Vernichtung von Menschen, sondern wurde weitgehend nach internationalem Kriegsrecht geführt. Daher stand es bisher wohl nicht so sehr im Fokus der öffentlichen Beachtung und Erinnerungskultur. Nach Moosburg kommen jedoch jedes Jahr zahlreiche Angehörige von ehemaligen Gefangenen aus der ganzen Welt, um nach den Spuren ihrer Väter und Großväter zu suchen.