Landsberg am Lech

Landsberg am Lech is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech.

Overview

The town is noted for its prison where Adolf Hitler was incarcerated in 1924. During this incarceration Hitler wrote/dictated his book Mein Kampf together with Rudolf Hess. His cell, number 7, became part of the cult of Nazism and many followers came to visit it during the German Nazi-period. Landsberg am Lech was also known as the town of the Hitler youth. Following World War II it was the location for one of the largest Displaced Person (DP) camps for Jewish refugees and the place of execution for more than 150 war criminals after 1945.

It is the birthplace of the Nobel laureate Erwin Neher.

Geography

Town areas

The town comprises three main areas. The historic old town centre of Landsberg, which lies between the river Lech and its easterly elevated bank. The area to the west of the river Lech (Katharinenvorstadt, Neuerpfting, Weststadt, Schwaighofsiedlung – today by far the biggest part of the town) and the area on the easterly elevated bank (Bayervorstadt) developed since the early 19th century.

Also belonging to Landsberg are the hamlets of Sandau and Pössing as well as the former independent boroughs of Ellighofen, Erpfting (with Friedheim, Geratshof and Mittelstetten), Pitzling (with Pöring) and Reisch (with Thalhofen).

Landsberg Concentration Camp and displaced person camp

The Landsberg camp began as a Nazi concentration camp. By October 1944, there were more than 5,000 prisoners in the camp.

The camp was liberated on April 27, 1945 by the 12th Armored Division of the United States Army. Upon orders from General Taylor, the American forces allowed news media to record the atrocities, and ordered local German civilians and guards to reflect upon the dead and bury them bare-handed. After the liberation of the camp it became a displaced person camp. Consisting primarily of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union and the Baltic states, it developed into one of the most influential DP camps in the Sh'erit ha-Pletah. It housed a Yiddish newspaper (the Yiddishe Zeitung), religious schools, and organizations to promote Jewish religious observance.

A dramatization of the discovery and liberation of the camp was presented in Episode 9: Why We Fight of the Band of Brothers mini-series.

A number of prominent leaders emerged from the camp, including Samuel Gringauz, who also became the chairman of the Council of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. zone. The camp also served as the headquarters for the Jewish education and training organisation ORT.

The camp closed on October 15, 1950.

Notable people

• Samuel Bak - Artist
• Sir Hubert von Herkomer - Artist, director and composer
• Ignaz Kögler - Jesuit missionary and mathematician
• Lanspergius - Carthusian monk and ascetical writer
• Erwin Neher - Biologist
• Luise Rinser - Writer and politician
• Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb - World War II field marshal
• Alois Wolfmüller - Inventor and aeronautical engineer
• Dominikus Zimmermann - Architect

Twinnings

• Failsworth (1974)
• Hudson, Ohio (1984)
• Saint-Laurent-du-Var (1986)
• Bushey (1989)
• Rocca di Papa (1989)
• Waldheim (1990)
• Siófok (2002)

Sports

Landsberg is home to the following sports clubs:

Sources

• Burgett, Daniel R. (2001). Beyond the Rhine. New York: Dell Publishing. pp. 119–134. 
• Thomas Raithel, Die Strafanstalt Landsberg am Lech und der Spöttinger Friedhof (1944-1958). Eine Dokumentation im Auftrag des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte München-Berlin (München: Oldenbourg 2009).

References

External links

• „DP Camp Landsberg This article traces the origin and history of the DP-camp Landsberg between 1945 and 1952.
• „Landsberg: The City of Youth
• Original movie of the U.S. Army: liberation of the concentration camp Kaufering IV (by Landsberg Lech), in April 1945: This film and the photos, made by the U.S. Army, served as a template for Part 9 "Band of Brothers." These documents were given to the team of director and producer Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks by the European Holocaust Memorial (Landsberg).
• „European Holocaust Memorial