stalag luft iii prisoner camp museum

You are greeted from the roadside by a very emotive statue, the museum gives a good glimpse into camp life along with the outside hut . Worth checking out for any special re enactments during the year. Then find your way to tunnel harry which is just up the road down a rough track , over the train line and now very well labelled in the trees - patience required perhaps but well worth it. The cemetery and commemorative areas are also very moving.

We are a family of 4 who traveled up after visiting and then staying in Colditz. Overall it was easy to find with a simple but thought provoking museum. The actual camp is a mile or so up the road (then turn right and follow the gravel road to the sight) which doesn't have anything standing from the original camp but the foundations can be found and the tunnel is marked out. Overall, I would recommend if it's on your bucket list (as you've probably seem the movie every Easter/Christmas since being born ;) but the wife and kids may not see the long drive the same way!!

It was amazing to see the place where my Uncle was imprisioned during WW2 and escaped through tunnel Harry.

When traveling with my Dad through Germany, Czech Republic and Poland, he mentioned that this was on his bucket list to see. With GPS in hand, we did find the museum without any trouble. It was a small museum and the trails were a bit tough to find due to lack of signs, but it was definitely worth it. My Dad loved seeing the museum and the trails, telling me stories as we went through. There is a sculpture not to be missed in the front of the museum, it is very powerful.

Unfortunately this museum has fallen into disarray. Poor map guidance and unmaintained trails. Is it still worth a look? Yes. It is history. Expect an exhibit hall with a small model of the British compound, a building, and then a 1 mile walk East, Southeast to "Harry", a 10 foot replica of where the fence was in 1944 then building markers.It is still worth the drive, time, and walk to see history.

Great museum if somewhat small. Run by great staff who can give you a basic map of the camp. Guides available for hire at extra cost. The camp itself is amazing - have wanted to go there for 30 years and finally made it in 2014. Recommended.

Different from other sites of former German camps, a small but very well arranged exhibition. The headmaster of the museum who was guiding us told some unique stories and referred much to the famous movie.

This museum only exists because of the passion of Marek. Unfortunately, he was away on the day we had there but my friend ,who knows Marek, took us through the site. A pretty good collection has been put together but this museum could use some financial aid. There is so much more that would be done with proper funding. This funding will likely have to come from those countries who had prisoners in the camp. As is, it is still worthwhile to visit this Stalag and see the place that has been immortalized by the "Great Escape". The engineering, planning and resourcefulness of the POW's is amazing. The role that this escape played in the war effort (via distraction of the Germans) is interesting. There is an offsite memorial to the soldiers that should also be seen as part of your visit to the area.

If you're looking for an up-close first-hand experience with world history, you must come visit Stalag Luft III Prisoner Camp Museum. I think this experience will be different for everyone, but standing at the exit of Tunnel Harry and thinking of the brave men who emerged to run for the woods, was an incredible experience for me. While you're here, be sure to tour the grounds, the re-created prisons, and underground hallways that are still original. Don't forget to bring a camera because this is an experience you're going to want to remember.

I came here with a Leger's tour and didn't quite know what to expect. I'd looked the camp up on the internet and got the impression that they was nothing much to see. However, there was a small, but very interesting museum, a mock-up of one of the prison huts, with displays inside, as well as a mock-up of one of the tunnels. But what I found most interesting was walking through the woods and seeing the foundations of the original huts and and other buildings, such as the theatre that the prisoners built. The original escape tunnel is marked poignantly with paving stones inscribed with the names of the prisoners who got out of the camp, and those who were murdered by the Gestapo in a different colour. Definitely well worth a visit.

I was in the same party as Chris N ie 1 oldie me,1middle aged and 2 teenagers.We met our guide and curater Marek on his day off.Such is the passion of Marek that he came in that day as we would only be able to make that day before going on to Berlin.We first went round the museum looking at the exhibits with Marek filling all the information about them.He then took us to see a reconstructed hut that had loads off photos and exhibits telling us true stories about the camp and the great escape and the wooden horse escape.We then went down the road to see the actual site where Harry was dug and the foundations of the original huts.The length of Harry will astound you.We went then to the original memorial to the 50 who were shot. A fantastic day that will live with me forever due in no small way to Marek ,like Chris N says a legend.Just one thing more in a time when tourist is another word for take them for as much money as you can get, we gave Marek a justifiably good tip which he promptly put straight into the museums collecting box in the museum.An unbelievable day

On a second visit to Zagan in two years this visit to the museum was as great as the first was. Once again we spent time with Marek who clearly lives and breaths the museum and what it stands for. It was great to see that the museum has been able to add to the exhibits and I learnt as much from this trip as I did on my first. People going to the museum should remember that this was also the location for The Woodern Horse escape as well as The Great Escape itself. You should allow at least three hours for your visit which takes in the museum, a walk around the site (short drive) and the memorial futher down the road towards Zagan itself. Yet again, thank you Marek for showing us around in your own time. Museums would be so more attractive to people if each one had somebody as dedicated as Marek working in them.

Reflecting on why this place left such an impression on me, I think it's because the site, exhibitions and memorials are so obviously cared for by the local population. You get the sense that they need the story to be told well and for memories to be honoured. The museum has been put together thoughtfully on what I imagine has been a small budget. It's good. Outside, you can see the original tunnel (Harry) and a part has been reconstructed so that you can go inside to experience its depth and width. We were told that a party of RAF volunteers came over some years ago to reconstruct one of the prison huts. This has been fitted with original artefacts and is fascinating to walk through. Even more evocative is the walk along the length of 'Harry' to see where the escapees emerged. You're walking through woodland and beyond the camp boundary you look straight into a twilit panorama of starkly pale trees. In the real escape, there was snow on the ground. Even on a sunny May afternoon, it didn't take much imagination to visualise the scene. After seeing the memorial to the 50 murdered men, a visit to Zagan station carried the story through. With the memories of the disguises and forged papers we'd seen in the exhibition we walked through to the ticket office and up onto the platform. We saw the view the men would have seen, we could even perhaps begin to imagine what they were feeling. I'm not going to forget that.

We drove from Berlin over the Autobahn until we reached the Polish Boarder and from there the highway is in pretty bad shape limiting our speed between 50 _ 70 KM. Secondary road leading to the museum was narrow but ok. The museum grounds were not very well maintained, but the inside of the museum and old barracks were chalk full of exhibit and detail information that takes you back with images of the original camp. I truly enjoyed this visit and would highly recommend this museum, barracks and a walk of the ground to anyone who enjoyed learning the factual aspect of WW2 POW Camps. The city of Zagan, Poland is also recommended especially the old church's.

We were driving to Poland to visit Auschwitz and whilst researching managed to also find the location for Stalag Luft III. This had to be worth a visit?? We arrived around 18:00 after a 13hour drive. The museum was closed but we were able to have a good enough look around at the replica hut and information boards etc. We decided to move on to find "Harry"......... About 1km up the road from the museum on the right we found a sign pointing to Stalag Luft III. Just up the farm track there was an old railway line with platform and from on top of the platform the position of huts could be seen marked out in tyres. As we moved on we came across Harry. It was so exciting to find such a piece of history and as we explored the woods we found more and more. It was hard to take in just how close they were to both the woods and the fence but as it started getting dark and with the sounds of voices and dogs the other side of the woods we almost felt we were there!! We left Stalag Luft III almost feeling it was the main reason we had come to Poland and continued on our journey with big smiles feeling very lucky we had experienced "The Great Escape"..........