Friedland: Discover history at the border transit camp

Friedland is a place where history comes to life at specific sites: at the Friedland Museum, St. Norbert’s Church and the Friedland Memorial on Hagenberg. If you want to make culture and historical topics the focus of your trip, you’ll find different ways to explore the history of the border transit camp and other traces of the region here.

The border transit camp and its history

The Friedland Museum is housed in Friedland’s historic railway station. The permanent exhibition “Fluchtpunkt Friedland” (Friedland: A Place of Refuge) takes visitors through the history of the border transit camp from 1945 to the present day across 350 square metres. It is presented throughout in German and English. This allows you to explore the exhibition in either language and engage with a subject that defines the town.

The museum offers guided tours of the exhibition and the grounds of the border transit camp in German, English and Arabic. A guided tour of the grounds is available on request; it is best to check the current booking arrangements in advance. Stops on the grounds tours include the Nissen hut and the Friedland Bell. This allows you to complement your museum visit with a walk to selected sites on the grounds.

The Catholic Church of St. Norbert is also closely connected with this place. It was built in 1954/55 on Heimkehrerstraße in the Friedland border transit camp and is a church monument of particular importance. From the outset, it served as a point of contact for returning prisoners of war, refugees, expellees and people without a home. The combination of its furnishings and history makes St. Norbert one of the most significant post-war churches in the Diocese of Hildesheim. A statue of a returning prisoner of war also stands by the church.

The Friedland Memorial stands on Hagenberg. The Meridian Marker, erected in Friedländer Holz in 1820/21, adds another historical dimension. The museum, church, statue, memorial and Meridian Marker offer different points of connection for a stay focused on history and culture.

Trails and summer culture in the municipality

The area around the municipality of Friedland offers further themes to consider when planning your trip. One trail passes Rittergut Besenhausen, continues through Friedland and its border transit camp, and then leads to Klein Schneen and its gravel pits. The trail runs within the municipality of Friedland.

In summer, Rittergut Besenhausen hosts changing exhibitions and concerts as part of the Besenhausen Summer programme. As the specific events may vary, it is worth checking the manor’s current programme before your visit. These seasonal events offer a different focus from Friedland’s historic sites and may provide an additional cultural highlight when planning your trip.

More culture and nature in Göttingen

Göttingen offers a distinct focus on knowledge, urban history and garden culture. At the Forum Wissen, visitors can learn about ongoing research and teaching. The permanent exhibition “Räume des Wissens” (Spaces of Knowledge) covers 1,400 square metres and makes the processes involved in creating knowledge easier to understand. Its twelve rooms contain more than 1,400 objects from the collections of the University of Göttingen.

The Göttingen Municipal Museum is showing the exhibition “Stadt. Macht. Glaube. Göttingen im 16. Jahrhundert” (City. Power. Faith. Göttingen in the 16th Century) until further notice. Since 1897, the museum has been housed in Hardenberger Hof, the last surviving aristocratic palace in Göttingen. Other ways to explore the city’s history include the Old Town Hall, built in 1270 and once a centre for council and court meetings as well as trade, and the Aula of the University of Göttingen. It is a central university building and an example of neoclassical architecture; the historic university jail is also located inside.

Nature and plants are another focus in Göttingen: the Old Botanical Garden was founded in 1736 as a “hortus medicus”, or medicinal garden. There you can explore historic greenhouses, tropical vegetation in the rainforest house and the alpine garden. In Göttingen, knowledge and garden culture sit alongside the memorial and historical themes that define Friedland.

Focus your accommodation search on the place you have chosen as the main focus for your planned visits.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Bad Grund (Harz), Seeburg, Hann. Münden, Walkenried, Obernfeld, Bovenden, Brochthausen, Staufenberg.

Back to the main travel overview: Göttingen.