Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Get the App

Börgermoor Concentration Camp Memorial

Börgermoor Concentration Camp Memorial

Highlight • Historical Site

Börgermoor Concentration Camp Memorial

Recommended by 78 cyclists out of 83

Save

Location: Surwold, Landkreis Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany

Save

See rides here

Take Me There

Routes here

Top cycling routes to Börgermoor Concentration Camp Memorial

4.7

(15)

riders

1. Fehn Canal in Papenburg – Bockhorster See loop from Papenburg

43.1km

02:38

40m

Intermediate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Intermediate

4.8

(10)

riders

2. Surwolder Lake – Bockhorster See loop from Börgerwald

33.6km

02:05

40m

Intermediate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Intermediate

4.3

(3)

riders

3. Village Square Esterwegen – Landing stage on the Küstenkanal loop from Esterwegen

34.0km

02:04

50m

Intermediate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Intermediate

Tips

Andreas 🇺🇦

February 13, 2018

The famous song Die Moorsoldaten was written in the concentration camp Börgermoor. ... The song was performed on 27 August 1933 at an event entitled "Zirkus Konzentrazani" by 16 inmates, former members of the Solinger Arbeiter-Gesangverein, and shortly thereafter banned by the SS camp administration.

The concentration camp Börgermoor near today's community Surwold, district Börgermoor, was one of the first concentration camps planned for initially 1,000 "protective inmates". In June 1933 it was occupied by the first inmates. It is one of the Emsland camps built by the National Socialists. From April 1934 it was a prison camp of the Reich Ministry of Justice.

In 1933, political prisoners were deported mainly from the industrial areas along the Rhine and Ruhr to Börgermoor. The camp was located in the north of Surwold, just above the present federal highway 401 and was the first of the later Emslandlager. The watch was carried out in the first time by Osnabrück police officers, but from July 1933 they were replaced by guards of the SS Group West. The SS enforced a strict regime in the camp, and complaints from the people caused the guard to be resettled by the police at the end of October 1933, which recruited the guards largely from SA members. The inmates built the camp Börgermoor and concentration camp Esterwegen and were used in the moorland cultivation.

Shortly before Christmas 1933, many prisoners were released after they had to sign a secrecy over life in the camp.

1934 - 1945
In May 1934 Börgermoor was subordinated to the Reich Ministry of Justice as a "prisoner of war camp".
The composition of the prisoners changed; The prisoners were charged with offenses such as "heavy theft", "embezzlement" and "fraud". These included homosexuals. The political prisoners were concentrated from 1937 on the camp II Aschendorfermoor. From 1940 onwards wehrmacht judicially convicted soldiers were added. At the latest after 1942, the proportion of those convicted in military courts was well above 50%.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZ_B%C3%B6rgermoor?wprov=sfti1
Sequel follows:

Translated by Google •

Andreas 🇺🇦

February 13, 2018

Continuation:
In May 1937, the capacity was increased to 1,500 prisoners. At the outbreak of the war Börgermoor was also penal institution for "military prisoners" who were imprisoned for desertion, "unauthorized removal" or "defensive force decomposition". The prisoners were used in the agriculture and defense industry and had to sort out old materials.
On April 10, 1945, the camp administration drove the prisoners along with prisoners from the camp Esterwegen on a death march. About 700 inmates and 400 inmates had to march to Collinghorst. After an overnight stay in Völlenerkönigsfehn reached the survivors on April 11, 1945 Aschendorfermoor. Very little is known about the death toll in the camp and during the death march. The civil registry number of deaths is 237.

After 1945
The camp camp director R. for the period between April 1938 and February 1941 was sentenced in 1950 by the Berlin district court to fifteen years in prison, the judgment was repealed in 1959.

Until the mid-60s, the camp was used as a prison under the name "penitentiary Emsland, department Börgermoor". Later it was demolished. Information boards are hanging on the spot today.

Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZ_B%C3%B6rgermoor?wprov=sfti1

Translated by Google •

Pulp-Fiction

July 19, 2025

Camp I Börgermoor was one of the early concentration camps in the Emsland region and played a significant role during the Nazi era.

From June 1933 onward, political opponents were imprisoned here and forced to perform forced labor in moorland cultivation.

Wolfgang Langhoff describes his experiences and the origins of the famous song in his book "The Moor Soldiers."

The prison conditions were inhumane, and the prisoners were brutally treated not only by the SS, but later also by other guards. The forced labor and the poor living conditions of the prisoners were inhumane.

As in many places in Nazi Germany, the prisoners were deployed in factories critical to the war effort. The precarious food supply led to countless tragedies and deaths.

Translated by Google •

Details

Informations

Elevation 0 m

Weather

Today

Wednesday 29 October

13°C

10°C

0 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 20.0 km/h

Most visited during

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See rides here

Take Me There

Location: Surwold, Landkreis Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany

Other Popular Places to Check Out

Leegmoor Observation Tower

Rest Area at the Old Lock

Kurfürsten-Runde Oak Avenue (Hümmling Pfade)

View of the Rhauderfehn Naval Radio Transmitter Site

Hahnentanger Mühle

Naturschutzgebiet Melmmoor/Kuhdammoor

Dietrich von Velen Monument (Founder of Papenburg)

Johannesgymnasium Lingen

Hauptkanal Papenburg mit Museumsschiff

Splittingkanal Papenburg

Historic Drawbridge on Hauptkanal, Papenburg

Esterweger Dose Moor Experience Trail

Börgermoor Concentration Camp Memorial

1. Fehn Canal in Papenburg – Bockhorster See loop from Papenburg

2. Surwolder Lake – Bockhorster See loop from Börgerwald

3. Village Square Esterwegen – Landing stage on the Küstenkanal loop from Esterwegen

Other Popular Places to Check Out

We value your privacy ⛰️

We value your privacy ⛰️