![[Translate to English:] Das Frauen-Konzentrationslager Ravensbrück bei seiner Erweiterung um das Jahr1940](/fileadmin/_processed_/a/9/csm_start_1939_1945_daf1e26a31.jpg "[Translate to English:] Das Frauen-Konzentrationslager Ravensbrück bei seiner Erweiterung um das Jahr 1940")
In 1939, the SS had the largest women’s concentration camp in the German Reich built in Ravensbrück near Fürstenberg. In 1941, a men’s camp was added, and in 1942, Uckermark “juvenile protective custody camp” was taken into operation.
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![[Translate to English:] Gedenkzeremonie an der ehemaligen Lagermauer (1950)](/fileadmin/_processed_/8/a/csm_start_1945_1959_dcc2306636.jpg "[Translate to English:] Gedenkzeremonie an der ehemaligen Lagermauer (1950)")
After the liberation, the Soviet Army took over much of the former concentration camp and used it as a barracks. From 1948, former prisoners attempted to preserve at least the area around the crematorium and turn it into a place of remembrance.
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![[Translate to English:] Einweihung der Nationalen Mahn- und Gedenkstätte 1959](/fileadmin/_processed_/4/7/csm_start_1959_1992_d7aa7c269b.jpg "[Translate to English:] Einweihung der Nationalen Mahn- und Gedenkstätte 1959")
The “Ravensbrück National Memorial” was opened in 1959 and was one of the GDR’s three national memorials. The bronze sculpture “Burdened Woman” (“Tragende”) was at the heart of the memorial’s design on the banks of lake Schwedt. Until 1994, the grounds of the former concentration camp were used for military purposes.
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![[Translate to English:] Dauerausstellung "Das Fruaen-Konzentratinoslager Ravensbrück. Geschichte und Erinnerung" in der ehemaligen Kommandantur](/fileadmin/_processed_/5/3/csm_start_1993_1_4d35ae2cb5.jpg "[Translate to English:] Dauerausstellung \"Das Fruaen-Konzentratinoslager Ravensbrück. Geschichte und Erinnerung\" in der ehemaligen Kommandantur")
In 1993, the Memorial became part of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation. In 2013, the new permanent exhibition “The Ravensbrück Women's Concentration Camp: History and commemoration“ was opened in the presence of former detainees.
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Events
Exhibition Opening ‘Machines roar, needle drags the thread, sharp knife shines, cuts in two and stabs.’
24. August 2025 – 15:00 - 17:00 Uhr
News
Call for Paper: 17th Ravensbrück European Summer School
04. July 2025
For the Research Exchange, we are looking for young researchers who are working on a project in the subject area of this year's European Summer University or on various aspects of the history of the former Ravensbrück women's concentration camp. more
Acquisition of Loretta Walz’s Video Archive – Ravensbrück Memorial Museum Expands Its Collection with the Most Comprehensive Interview Series with Survivors of the Women’s Concentration Camp
25. June 2025
With funding from the German Federal Rural Development and Regional Value Creation Programme (BULEplus) in 2024, the Ravensbrück Memorial Museum was able to acquire the audiovisual archive of filmmaker and documentarian Loretta Walz. more
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Ravensbrück Memorial Museum
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Internationaler Freundeskreis
The Internationale Freundeskreis e.V. supports and promotes the work of the Ravensbrück museum.
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