Vaihingen an der Enz

Vaihingen an der Enz (officially named Wiesengrund) concentration camp, near the city of Vaihingen an der Enz in the Neckar region of Germany, was a slave labor camp for armament manufacturing built by the Todt organization. In the end phase of the war it became a concentration camp for sick and dying prisoners. The camp was built in late 1943 – early 1944 as part of a secret program known as Stoffel to relocate Messerschmitt manufacturing plants underground, protected from Allied bombing raids. These underground facilities were constructed in conjunction with the quarries in the area. Originally an annex to the concentration camp at Natzweiler-Struthof, it was inhabited by a group of 2,189 Jewish prisoners from the Radom Ghetto in Poland. These and subsequent prisoners were put to work in the quarry, carrying stone, rubble, sand, and grit. The prisoners were worked 12 hours a day on starvation diets, and mortality rates were high. They were accommodated in four houses sharing one latrine. The camp was heavily guarded with double barbed wire, watchtowers, and SS troops. By the fall of 1944 operation Stoffel was abandoned and most of the prisoners reassigned to other camps, notably Bisingen, Hessental, Dautmergen, or Unterriexingen. The Wiesengrund camp retained some slave laborers, but became a destination for sick prisoners who were effectively left there to die. A fifth structure was erected to serve as an infirmary. 2,442 seriously ill prisoners arrived between November 1944 and March 1945, and the mortality rate increased dramatically, to 33 deaths a day. An epidemic of typhus made conditions considerably worse. With the approach of the French army, on 5 April 1945, the SS sent many prisoners on a forced march to the Dachau concentration camp. The same day 16 Norwegian prisoners were rescued by the Swedish Red Cross. One of those prisoners was Trygve Bratteli, who later became a politician and served as prime minister of Norway, 1971–72 and 1973–76. On 7 April the camp was formally liberated by the 1st French army. Even so, another 92 prisoners died after liberation from lingering typhus and/or general ill health. Corpses in large common graves were exhumed after the war and reinterred in a memorial gravesite near the camp, which was officially opened on 2 November 1958. Camp officials were charged and put on trial by the French military tribunal. Ten were condemned to death, and eight were sentenced to terms of hard labor.

The Schmiebach (also: Schmie) is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into the Enz in Vaihingen an der Enz.

Vaihingen (Enz) station is a long-distance and the regional station at an important railway junction in the town of Vaihingen an der Enz in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station. It is one of a few passenger stations in German that are designed to allow Intercity-Express (ICE) trains to pass at 250 km/h. The ICE through tracks do not have platforms.

Kreuzbach is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Strudelbach in Enzweihingen.

Enzweihingen is a village, part of the town of Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany. It has a population of 3,951 people (2021). Enzweihingen lies about three miles southeast of the centre of Vaihingen, between Strohgäu and Heckengäu, at the confluence of the Kreuzbach, Strudelbach and Enz. It is connected by railway and lies along Bundesstraße 10 Stuttgart–Pforzheim.

The Strudelbach is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Riet is a village in the town of Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany. The population is around 900, and it is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of central Vaihingen.

Illingen is a municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 10,000, it is 27 kilometers (89,000 ft) to the west of Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg.

Eberdingen is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave is a richly-furnished Celtic burial chamber near Hochdorf an der Enz (municipality of Eberdingen) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, dating from 530 BC in the Hallstatt culture period. It was discovered in 1968 by an amateur archaeologist and excavated from 1978 to 1979. By then, the burial mound covering the grave, originally 6 m (20 ft) in height and about 60 m (200 ft) in diameter, had shrunk to about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in height and was hardly discernible due to centuries of erosion and agricultural use. A man, roughly 50 years of age and 180 cm (71 in) tall, was laid out on an exceptionally richly decorated 275 cm (108 in) bronze recliner with eight wheels inside the burial chamber. Judging by other objects found there, this man probably had been a Celtic chieftain: He had been buried with a gold-plated torc on his neck, a bracelet on his right arm, a hat made of birch bark, a gold-plated dagger made of bronze and iron, rich clothing, amber jewelry, a razor knife, a nail clipper, a comb, fishing hooks, arrows, and most notably, thin embossed gold plaques which were on his now-disintegrated shoes. At the foot of the couch was a large cauldron decorated with three lions around the brim, originally imported from Magna Graecia but subsequently altered. This cauldron was originally filled with about 400 L (88 imp gal; 110 US gal) of mead. Hemp or cannabis was also found in the Hochdorf grave. The east side of the tomb contained an iron-plated wooden four-wheeled wagon holding a set of bronze dishes—along with the drinking horns found on the walls enough to serve nine people. The whole burial chamber was lined with elaborate textiles.Krausse (1999) has argued that the material in the Hochdorf burial may denote the combined position of a chief and a priest, or Sakralkönig (sacred king).According to Gaspani (1998) the diagonals of the rectangular burial chamber were aligned with the major lunar standstill, which occurs every 18.6 years.The Hochdorf grave is located within sight of the Hallstatt-era fortified settlement and 'princely seat' of the Hohenasperg, which is surrounded by other elite burials such as the Grafenbühl grave and the Kleinaspergle. Following the excavations of the grave the burial mound was reconstructed to its original height. The Keltenmuseum Hochdorf was subsequently built nearby and opened in 1991. During the construction of the museum the foundations of an ancient Celtic village were found, possibly the one to which the chieftain belonged. These were incorporated into the museum.

Sersheim is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

Kammertenberg is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.