Built in 1941, it was one of two high-security PoW camps in Britain during World War II and held many prisoners classified by British authorities as the most committed Nazis.

During the Cold War, Cultybraggan housed a Royal Observer Corps monitoring post and an underground Regional Government Headquarters bunker.

The site has since been sold under a community right-to-buy scheme to the Comrie Development Trust, who have overseen the conversion of some of the camp's Nissen huts into accommodation and locations for business ventures.

[3] The camp was built in May–October 1941[4] by members of 249 Company Pioneer Corps,[5][6] which was composed primarily of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria.

[9] Cultybraggan was one of two maximum-security PoW camps in Britain, having a large quantity of "black" or "category C" prisoners - those who were considered to be the most committed Nazis and likely to cause trouble.

[3][11] The camp was divided into four sections of approximately 100 Nissen huts each, designated with the letters A to D.[12] While prisoners were accommodated initially with disregard to categorization, this was changed after a murder on site.

[14] He was sent to Cultybraggan by accident along with conspirators of the failed Devizes plot, an attempt at staging the mass escape of PoWs from Le Marchant Camp to attack London, stalling the Allied invasion of Germany and turning the tide of the war.

[14] This was the largest mass execution in the United Kingdom since the perpetrators of the Phoenix Park murders were hanged,[17] and the last mass-execution in Britain.

[5][6] The arrival of the charismatic Captain Herbert Sulzbach, who had been a decorated soldier in the German Army in the first world war, represented a change for the better.

[21] The camp hosted numerous units from across Britain including the 4th Royal Norfolk Regiment (for training in "Winter warfare")[22] and Army Cadets.

[21] The Ministry of Defence took ownership of Cultybraggan in 1950,[3] under its leadership a large proportion of the original Nissen huts on the western side of the camp were demolished in the 1970s to make way for a 25-metre firing range and assault course.

[27] Historic Scotland describes Cultybraggan as "one of the three best preserved purpose-built WWII prisoner of war camps in Britain".

[34] The RGHQ bunker was sold by the Comrie Development Trust, with funds from the sale used to settle loans taken out for the purchase of the camp.

[27] The bunker was eventually sold at an auction in April 2014 to the company Bogons, who intended to use it as a long-term data storage facility.

[39] Following his death in 2014, Steinmeyer left a bequest of £384,000 from the sale of his house and possessions to Comrie for the “kindness and generosity” he received whilst imprisoned in Cultybraggan.

Whilst many interviewees had positive opinions of Cultybraggan, and all had some form of connection to it, some expressed unease over the camp given its history with Nazi prisoners.

The study also noted that the Comrie Development Trust was struggling to make a profit at the time and had some opposition within the local community.