Enlisted soldiers were housed in eight barracks, arranged in two groups of four; the officers occupied two separate wooden quarters to the north.

In the southwest quadrant of the camp was a "business district" with numerous shacks for use by prisoners as workshops; further booths were spread over the rest of the area.

This was successful as a large number of the prisoners were not professional soldiers, but were reservists or volunteers from a wide variety of professional backgrounds (including bakers, cooks, butchers, carpenters, locksmiths, plumbers, shoemakers, tailors, painters, watchmakers, pharmacists, barbers, photographers, washermen, etc) .

The camp was officially closed on February 8, 1920, after which the site was used as a training ground by the Imperial Japanese Army.

During its 32 month existence, over 100 concerts, lectures, as well as several dozen plays and entertainment programs were presented, including venues at nearby Ryōzen-ji.

This event is the origin of the popularity of the symphony in Japan, performed numerous times at the end of each year, and is celebrated annually with a concert at the Naruto Bunka Kaikan on the first Sunday in June,[7][8] indirectly leading to the length of audio compact discs being over 74 minutes.

In 1993, a larger new building - in the style of Lüneburg Town Hall - replaced the "German House Naruto" as a museum.

In 2006, German-Japanese historical drama Ode to Joy (バルトの楽園, Baruto no gakuen), starring Bruno Ganz and Ken Matsudaira, which explores the cultural interactions between the prisoners and the Japanese, was released[10][11] It was directed by Masanobu Deme.