NS-Dokumentationszentrum Rheinland-Pfalz

About the museum

From early March 1933 to early July 1934, an abandoned paper mill on Ziegelhüttenweg in Osthofen housed the only early concentration camp of the then People's State of Hesse. The writer Anna Seghers used it as the model for the fictional camp in her novel "Das siebte Kreuz." Today the NS Documentation Center is housed here under the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Rheinland-Pfalz (state center for civic education). The Förderverein Projekt Osthofen (friends' association), founded in 1986, maintains its own office in the building and works closely with the state center.

Since May 2004 the main building has housed the permanent exhibition "Verfolgung und Widerstand in Rheinland-Pfalz 1933–1945." Its focus is the Osthofen camp and the SS special camp/concentration camp Hinzert in the Hunsrück, which existed from 1939 to 1945. A separate section covers the exclusion, persecution and murder of Jews, Sinti and Roma, and sick and disabled people, as well as resistance to the Nazi terror. One room is devoted to Anna Seghers and her novel.

Besides the exhibition, the center offers a reading room on the Nazi era in the region, seminar rooms, lectures, special events and extensive educational programs. On the outdoor grounds, QR codes and a public geocache provide additional information on the camp's history.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition "Verfolgung und Widerstand in Rheinland-Pfalz 1933–1945"
• Authentic site of the early Osthofen camp (1933/34)
• Room on Anna Seghers and "Das siebte Kreuz"
• Reading room on the Nazi era in the region
• Audio guide and free guided tours by registration
• Free admission

Permanent exhibitions

• Verfolgung und Widerstand in Rheinland-Pfalz 1933–1945 – The permanent exhibition covers the Osthofen and Hinzert camps, the persecution of Jews, Sinti and Roma, and sick and disabled people, and resistance to the Nazi regime.
• Anna-Seghers-Raum – One room commemorates the writer and her novel "Das siebte Kreuz," for which the Osthofen camp served as the model.

Operated by

Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Rheinland-Pfalz (mit Förderverein Projekt Osthofen e. V.)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission, guided tours and educational programs are free. Guided tours require advance registration.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Accessible entrance to the building, elevators, an accessible restroom and accessible parking spaces. Offerings for people with disabilities.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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