Arbeitserziehungslager Reichenau
Memorial to the victims of the Labor Education Camp Reichenau (1941-1945)
Arbeitserziehungslager Reichenau
The Labor Education Camp Reichenau, located on the outskirts of Innsbruck, operated from 1941 to 1945. During this period, approximately 8,500 individuals were imprisoned under inhumane conditions, marked by pervasive violence. Records indicate that 114 people, including two women and prisoners from 15 different countries, were killed at the camp.
Over its existence, the camp served multiple purposes. Initially, it functioned as a labor education camp (Arbeitserziehungslager) for both domestic and foreign workers. Later in the war, it also held politically suspect individuals and dissidents. Additionally, the Reichenau camp was utilized as a transit point for Italian workers and Jewish people who were subsequently deported to concentration camps throughout Nazi Germany.
Drag the slider to compare the wartime camp structures visible in 1945 with the modern industrial and commercial development that now occupies the site.
The History of the "Labor Education Camp Reichenau"
The use of forced labor during the Nazi era was unparalleled, with over 20 million people exploited across the German Reich and occupied territories. These individuals were deployed in various sectors, including the military-industrial complex, construction, agriculture, crafts, and private households. Few Nazi crimes impacted as many personal lives—whether as victims, perpetrators, or bystanders. Following the annexation of Austria (Anschluß), numerous forced labor camps were established throughout the Tirol-Vorarlberg region in what is now western Austria.
This map of Austria shows all known Nazi camps, based on a database compiled by Horst Schreiber. Click on any marker to see more detail of the camp.
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Innsbruck was home to several camps, with the largest complex located near the present-day industrial area of Rossau. This complex included the Labor Education Camp Reichenau, a prison camp (Auffanglager) primarily for Italian refugee workers, which was operated by the Gestapo. To its north, the City of Innsbruck, the German National Railway, and the Reichspost jointly ran a forced labor and prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. Therefore, the overall camp complex comprised both the labor education camp and the North Camp.
Construction of the Reichenau camp began in the fall of 1941. By early 1942, it was already used for "work slackers" (Arbeitsbummelanten), who were subjected to inhumane disciplinary measures, ostensibly to "educate" them in the Nazi work ethic. From 1943, the camp also served as an internment site for politically suspicious individuals and as a transit camp for Italian workers from Northern Italy, who had been deported after the occupation of Italy for political reasons.
The prisoner population also included Jews from Italy, the United Kingdom, and Austria, as well as inmates from a dismantled labor training camp in Carinthia. It is estimated that between 1941 and 1945, 8,500 to 8,600 people were interned in the Labor Education Camp Reichenau, with up to 700 more in the North camp.
Origins of the Victims
The following map shows the birthplaces of the 114 victims who died at the Reichenau camp, with lines connecting each location to Innsbruck, illustrating the international scope of persecution.
Around 30 SS men guarded the camp until May 1943, when they left to join the Wehrmacht's war efforts. Subsequently, older local police officers were employed as guards to support the Gestapo, and from the autumn of 1944, Baltic auxiliary police officers also served in this capacity.
The function of the camp shifted from discipline and "education to work" to internment and serving as a transit point for other concentration camps, a change reflected in the escalating death toll. The number of deaths rose sharply from 1943, peaking in 1944. Extensive research in both domestic and international archives has revealed that at least 114 individuals perished due to injuries and torture endured either within the camp or at a hospital in nearby Hall. This research has also uncovered vital biographical information about these victims.
Following Tyrol's liberation in May 1945, the camp complex served various purposes: an army discharge center, an internment camp for former Nazis, and housing for displaced persons and refugees. By 1948, the city of Innsbruck had converted the barracks into emergency housing for those displaced and homeless. The complex remained in use for two decades, with the final barracks demolished in 1968. This demolition marked the beginning of the area's transformation into a rapidly expanding commercial zone. From the late 1960s onward, Innsbruck constructed its primary construction and recycling center on the former Labor Education Camp Reichenau site and parts of the North Camp.
History of Remembrance
In May 2023, a targeted archaeological excavation was conducted at the Rossau camp site. This initiative, prompted by the Austrian Bundesdenkmalamt (Federal Monuments Office), aimed to pinpoint the individual buildings and barracks and understand their purpose. The classification was highly accurate, thanks to dozens of previously undiscovered aerial photographs from the Second World War.
During the excavation, numerous artifacts were uncovered, as well as the foundations of three barracks.
In 1968, the Association of Victims of the Political Struggle for Freedom in Tyrol (Bund der Opfer des politischen Freiheitskampfes in Tirol) proposed that the city erect a memorial near the former site of the Reichenau labor education camp, the same year its last barracks were demolished. Three years later, in 1971, the working group of "associations loyal to the fatherland in Tyrol" (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vaterlandstreuer Verbände Tirols) reiterated this request to the municipality, suggesting a monument to the camp's victims be placed "west of the entrance to the central courtyard." The monument, costing 226,000 Schillings, was ultimately erected east of the recycling center entrance.
On October 26, 1972, Austria's "National Day" (Day of the Declaration of Neutrality) and with numerous foreign delegations and public officials attending, Innsbruck's mayor Alois Lugger unveiled the memorial sign designed by the Viennese sculptor Franz Anton Coufal with the following inscription:
Hier stand in den Jahren 1939 bis 1945 das Gestapo- Auffanglager Reichenau, in dem Patrioten aus allen von NationaIsozialismus besetzten Ländern inhaftiert und gefoltert wurden. Viele von ihnen fanden hier den Tod.
Translation: "Here stood the Reichenau Gestapo reception camp (Auffanglager) between 1939 and 1945, in which patriots from all countries occupied by national socialism were imprisoned and tortured. Many of them died here."
The monument was supplemented in 2008 by a small memorial stone with an inscription designed by Johannes and Matthias Breit, which commemorates Italian workers from Sesto San Giovanni. Because of their resistance, they were deported to the Reichenau labor education camp. Since then, privately organized commemorations have taken place at the monument at irregular intervals, in which, until a few years ago, institutions and associations from different countries of origin of inmates of the Reichenau labor education camp took part.
The monument, while recognized for its historical significance and statement, no longer fulfills the needs of modern remembrance. Its inscription contains inaccuracies, its aesthetic is outdated, and its placement next to the municipal recycling center is an unsuitable and inappropriate location to honor the victims and their suffering.
The New Memorial
The camp's history and location necessitate a renewed examination of the destinies of those associated with it. It all started with an intensive historical and archaeological research process in order to ensure full knowledge about the camp. On the basis of this report and the recommendations of the commission for the redesign of the memorial, the local council of the state capital Innsbruck decided to establish a contemporary memorial. This was followed by a multi-stage, international design competition that covered both the architectural design and a didactic concept for the memorial. The winning project from the working group Heike Bablick · Ricarda Denzer · Karl-Heinz Machat · Bettina Schlorhaufer · Hermann Zschiegner is presented here.
Name Stones
Concrete pillars (Namenssteine) are arranged along a timeline, marking the deaths of the 114 victims. Radial lines extending from the camp indicate the months of its operation. In certain months, a high number of deaths resulted in dense clusters of name stones, allowing visitors to directly witness the camp's cruelty.
The name stones are cast from concrete and glass terrazzo, each colored slightly different and with variable heights. As the stones are arranged chronologically by the date of the murder, individuals killed on the same day form distinct groups. Each stone leans slightly in the direction of the victim's country of birth. While the sides of the concrete are intentionally rough, the top surface, facing visitors, is polished to a mirror finish and engraved with the name and age of the murdered individual. Since biographical data and portrait photos are missing for most of the dead, the reflection of the visitors on the name surface replaces the portrait.
Reichenau Memorial Landscape
The Reichenau Memorial's wave form alludes to what lies hidden beneath the surface, to the invisible; to the spaces between discoveries, the archival voids, and the unrecorded names of those who suffered under a regime of terror. Custom tiles of varying densities cover a wave-shaped elevation, illustrating the vast number of people interned at the camp.
The Pavilion
The pavilion consists of an open spatial structure whose basic dimensions refer to a standard barracks from the Nazi era. In this way, the audience is made aware of the cramped conditions in which the internees at the Reichenau labor education camp lived. On the inside of the room structure, in-depth topics (texts, photos, plans/diagrams) are dealt with, particularly with a view to students: The Reichenau labor education camp and its history, the different functions of the camp between 1941 and 1945, the spatial conception of such a warehouse, the further development of the contaminated site from the liberation of the camp to today's construction and recycling center for the city of Innsbruck, who was interned here, the conditions in the camp, the victims and the perpetrators, and crimes against humanity. Two rows of panels arranged in a V-shape extend between the cycle path and the waterfront promenade, with the content of the pavilion being designed to accommodate different lengths of stay for the public.
Information panels designed for the memorial pavilion
The Audio Walk
The audio walk delves into the history of the Reichenau labor education camp, focusing on firsthand accounts from contemporary witnesses and the memories and biographies of descendants and former prisoners. It also explores the perspectives of relatives of those who committed crimes at the camp or lived in its vicinity. The project combines an archaeological approach to uncovering historical artifacts within the landscape with the immersive experience of listening to stories and the ambient sounds of the environment. A free smartphone app enhances the experience, visualizing paths on a map that follow the topography of the new memorial site and the area around the former camp. Each chapter of the audio trail corresponds to a marked point on the map. The app can be used online with location services or offline, offering visitors a multidimensional listening experience.
Website and Digital Archive
The Reichenau memorial design incorporates a dedicated website serving as an archive, knowledge base, and communication hub. This multilingual platform offers in-depth content, new historical discoveries, and ongoing interviews with contemporary witnesses. All topics are accompanied by specific texts written in accessible language, ensuring information is readily available to a diverse audience. Functioning as a didactic resource, the website also facilitates the distribution of teaching materials and the presentation of project work to a wider public.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
During the groundbreaking ceremony on May 8, 2025, the first prototypes of the name stones were unveiled by Jeffrey Wisnicki (grandson of Jakob Justman), Governor Anton Mattle and Mayor Johannes Anzengruber.
The first stone dedicated to an individual is for Jakob Justman. The Jewish Justman family originally came from Poland: Jakob Justman fled with his daughter Leokadia Justman from the ghettos of Warsaw and Piotrków, his wife Sofia Justman was murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp. Jakob and Leokadia Justman first found accommodation and work under false identities in Seefeld, then in Innsbruck. After a betrayal, both were arrested by the Gestapo. Jakob Justman was murdered on April 24, 1944, in the Reichenau camp. His grave can be found today in the Jewish section of Innsbruck's Westfriedhof.
