A ways north of Berlin lies the picturesque suburban town of Oranienberg, but the town contains a dark reminder from the countrys history. The House of Saxony, otherwise known as the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in. It is a large triangular camp and was the main hub of concentration camps being so close to Berlin. More than 50,000 perished in the camp from all kinds of cruelties. Most of it was destroyed, and only a few rebuilt structures remain.  Some of the original foundations are left, such as the underground ‘dissecting room’ and the oven structures and gallows area, and guard towers. The camp was filled mainly with political enemies and large numbers of captured Soviet soldiers. It was eventually liberated by the Russians and then used by the Russians as a prison of their own. A large monument was built in the middle. While certainly not an attraction to be enjoyed, it was a very interesting experience.

More pleasantly on a short day trip to the city of Potsdam, a neat city southwest of Berlin I went to the Schloss Sanssouci (san-soossy) a large manor in a huge garden area built in the mid 1700s as a Summer home for Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. While there wasn’t much to do, (museum was closed) the gardening and architecture is very exsquisite, along with a random windmill. It took a lot of S-Bahning to get around to these places at opposite ends of Berlin, but it was worth.

Video of the camp interior: https://youtu.be/hOXFtTy9axs

And now, Schloss Sanssouci.