Theodor Körner Museum and Wöbbelin Memorial Site

Contradictions in German history are seldom as clear as in the Wöbbelin memorials. On the one hand, the museum presents the life of the German poet Theodor Körner in the exhibition “Theodor Körner. 1791 - 1813. Poet and patriot. His elevation to the idol ”, on the other hand, the history of the concentration camp near Wöbbelin has been remembered since 1965.On August 27, 1813, the poet Carl Theodor Körner was buried here, who was fatally wounded as a volunteer in the Lützow Freikorps in the so-called "Wars of Liberation" against Napoleon near Gadebusch. As early as 1814, a memorial was erected at the burial site in Wöbbelin for the well-known writer and patriot. The memorials and memorials recall Körner's life in a historical context and show the political and ideological appropriation of his life by subsequent generations.During the Second World War, there was a concentration camp near Wöbbelin on the road to Ludwigslust. The recently established satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp only existed for ten weeks, from February 12 to May 2, 1945. During the short period of its existence, the Wöbbelin camp was a station for over 5,000 victims of the Hitler regime. The prisoners came from more than 25 nations, over 1000 of them died of disease, hunger and exhaustion as a result of the extreme prison conditions. After the liberation of the camp, the last victims were buried in various places on the orders of the American military authorities, including in the same grove as the poet Theodor Körner.In addition to guided tours through the permanent exhibition on the history of the Wöbbelin concentration camp, the memorials and memorials organize talks with contemporary witnesses as well as film screenings, lectures, readings, seminars and workshops for visitors.gedenkstaetten-woebbelin.de