Natzwiller

Natzwiller
Coat of arms of Natzwiller Coat of arms
Natzwiller
Location within Alsace region Natzwiller
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement	Molsheim
Canton	Mutzig
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	André Woock
Area1	7.29 km2 (2.81 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	611
• Density	84/km2 (220/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	67314 / 67130
Elevation	379–1,013 m (1,243–3,323 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Natzwiller (German: Natzweiler) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine in north-eastern France.

History

Main article: Natzweiler-Struthof

Built in spring 1941 on the territory of the commune, Natzweiler-Struthof opened for prisoners in May 1941. It was the only Nazi concentration camp on French soil. The inmates originally were German who were to supply labor for building V-2 rocket factories in man-made caves dug out of the Vosges Mountains. The prisoners lived in the cold, damp tunnels as they built them. Natzweiler-Struthof was expanded by the Nazis with the installation of a gas chamber in April 1943 and crematory. The camp's main function was temporary detention of Resistance fighters from overrun European nations, although selected Nazi experiments on Jews were carried out here.

Museum

The camp site has been preserved as a museum and includes a monument to the departed.

See also

• Communes of the Bas-Rhin department

References

• INSEE commune file