It was located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee.

It consisted of an enclosure 200 m (660 ft) square, surrounded with barbed wire and guard towers.

Immediately after the German invasion of Poland, at the beginning of World War II, some 1,000 Polish officers were imprisoned there.

On April 27, 1942, additional Polish POWs were transferred there from the so-called "Generals' Camp" Oflag VIII-E in Janské Koupele in German-occupied Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic).

After the failed Warsaw Uprising and Operation Tempest more prisoners were brought there from Poland.