Nordhausen

Nordhausen is a German town in the southern side of the Harz Mountains town, which today is reminiscent of the World War days when thousands were slain in the concentration camps of Germany. The place was once known for its gypsum deposits, which are now almost in their scarce state. The Dora or Mittelwerke concentration camps were based some 6 kilometers from the city of Nordhausen. It was the bombings and shelling during the Second World War, which devastated the town completely.

The tunnels in the Harz Mountains have along history of oppression and typical torture behind their development. The captives from the Buchenwald concentration camps were used as slaves to work on the two tunnels. They were forced to work under inhuman conditions until the slaves themselves built a concentration camp in the neighboring area. Little of this area remains, yet tourists are sure to be moved by the crematorium and the movie hall that they had built for themselves. The former movie hall now houses a bookstore, where visitors can see file images of the concentration camps and even a few survivors of the World War II, who had spent time in these places. Apart from building tunnels, the prisoners were also made to work on V1 and V2 rockets. The Tunnels A and B have been closed down intentionally and a different tunnel way is used for the use of the town dwellers and tourists.

The Mountain lowlands, on which this German city is established is a fertile ground, the earliest references of which dates back to 927 AD. It was then called Northusen and Nordhusa. When in 1290, Nordhausen achieved the status off free imperial city and in the early 16th century, around 1522; Protestant reformation was ushered into the culture of the Nordhausen town.