Baracke Wilhelmine

About the museum

The barracks was built in 1939 as part of the Marinegemeinschaftslager II (naval community camp II), which housed workers for the construction of a naval fuel depot. It got its name because the camp's barracks were named alphabetically after female first names. During the construction of the Valentin U-boat bunker from 1943, the construction management was housed here; on the large construction sites of the region, concentration camp prisoners, prisoners of war, and forced laborers had to work.

After the end of the war the building served as a naval hospital, then as part of the Evangelisches Hospital Neuenkirchen, and finally until 2004 as a Bundeswehr barracks building. Afterward the municipality of Schwanewede acquired the barracks and turned it over to the Heimatfreunde Neuenkirchen; it has been a listed monument since 2006 and was renovated in keeping with its protected status in 2009.

Since 2007/2008 the memorial group of the association has been building up the exhibition step by step. It follows the "life course" of the barracks with original objects, models, plans, and eyewitness accounts. A separate section is devoted to the Lebensborn home in Schwanewede-Löhnhorst – according to the sponsor, the first permanent exhibition on this topic in Germany.

Highlights

• Camp barracks of 1939 preserved in its original state (listed monument)
• Forced labor during the construction of the Valentin U-boat bunker
• Permanent exhibition "Lebensborn – Ideologie, Alltag, Spuren"
• Postwar history as a hospital and Bundeswehr barracks

Permanent exhibitions

• Geschichte des Geländes und der Baracke – From naval community camp through naval hospital and Evangelisches Hospital to the Bundeswehr – with a focus on forced labor for the Valentin bunker.
• Lebensborn – Ideologie, Alltag, Spuren – Permanent exhibition on the former Lebensborn home in the Hohehorst manor house and on the SS organization Lebensborn.

Founded

2007

Operated by

Heimatfreunde Neuenkirchen e.V. (Sparte Gedenkstättenarbeit)

Director

Dr. Julia Schmengler

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

On the grounds of the Gewerbepark Weser-Geest (former barracks), GPS address: An der Kaserne 122, 28790 Schwanewede.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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Plan your visit