Ordensburg Vogelsang

In a 1933 speech in Bernau near Berlin, Adolf Hitler demanded that new schools be built for children of the leaders of the Nazi Party.

The task was given to Robert Ley, the "Reichsorganisationsleiter" (literally: Reich Organisational Leader) of the NSDAP, who undertook the construction and operation of four educational camps (NS-Ordensburgen, literally "Castles of the Nazi military order"): The construction of Ordensburg Vogelsang, most of which lies within the borough of Schleiden, was financed by expropriating trade unions and employers' associations.

Overview of the buildings Most of the sculptures in Vogelsang - "Fackelträger" (torch bearer), "Der deutsche Mensch" (The German Man), "Adler" (Eagle) and the "Sportlerrelief" (sportsmen-relief) - were created by Willy Meller.

The daily timetable Emphases were placed on Nazi racial theories, geopolitics and intensive sports education (especially equitation).

At the outbreak of the war in September 1939, the Orden Junkers departed and the Castle of Vogelsang was handed over to the German army (Deutsche Wehrmacht), which used it twice for billeting troops: in 1940 during the western campaign, and in December 1944 during the Ardennes offensive.

The foundation walls constructed for the House of Knowledge (Haus des Wissens) were used for the Van Dooren barrack block, and the adjacent basement, originally intended for an auditorium, became a cinema.

The complex will eventually accommodate the administration of the National Park Eifel, the visitor centre, and an exhibition in the Castle.

The display depicts how ordinary men and women were conditioned by the Nazis to hate Jews and others branded as inferiors.