New historical plaque on the Hof-Nord camp

The history plaque in St.-Lukas-Weg/corner of Kulmbacher Straße is no. 86 in the series of Hof history trails.

Auf dem Bild sind vier Personen zu sehen. Zwei von ihnen enthüllen eine Info-Tafel. — In the picture (from left): Eva Döhla (Mayor of Hof), Peter Heidler, Dr. Axel Herrmann (Chairman of the Northeast Upper Franconian Association for Nature, History and Regional Studies e.V.), Peter Nürmberger (Head of the Cultural Office of Hof)

Auf dem Bild ist eine Geschichtstafel zu sehen.

Mayor Eva Döhla, Peter Heidler, Dr. Axel Herrmann and Peter Nürmberger, together with numerous members of the Nordostoberfränkischer Verein für Natur, Geschichts- und Landeskunde e.V. and interested citizens of Hof, put the history plaque in St.-Lukas-Weg/corner of Kulmbacher Straße into operation. The plaque with the number 86, which is part of the Hof history trails, provides information about the Hof-Nord camp. Peter Heidler, who published his childhood memories and experiences from the North Camp in a book in 2020 and inspired the history plaque, gave a vivid account of his past.

From the story

A barracks camp for the German Wehrmacht was built here from spring 1935. The barracks were built from August 1935. In 1942, additional barracks were built in the rear part of the camp for the "Blue Division" from Spain. After the war, the camp was used to house Jewish displaced persons, mostly Holocaust survivors who had fled Poland, until spring 1948.

The term "displaced persons" (DPs) refers to people who were outside their country of origin after the Second World War due to the war and were unable to return without help or wanted to resettle in another country. The American military, which used the barracks after 1945, took over the provisioning.

From spring 1948, the camp was repaired for refugees from East and West Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia and the Sudetenland. At times, up to 112 families with a total of 410 people were accommodated here. The rear camp was separated from the refugee camp by a wooden picket fence. Homeless and socially disadvantaged people lived in this so-called "transit camp". The last barrack, Block 11, was demolished in 1968. New buildings were later erected on the site, which are currently used by the authorities: The area of the refugee camp is now a Bundeswehr property (Oberfranken-Kaserne); the area of the former transit camp is used by the State Office for the Environment as a central geo-archive.

More information

Nordostoberfränkische Verein für Natur, Geschichts- und Landeskunde e.V. provides further information on the Hof-Nord camp and other history panels on its website.

Peter Heidler's book "Das Lager Hof-Nord 1945-1967. Erinnerungen eines Flüchtlingskindes" is available in bookshops under ISBN no. 978-3-9819204-3-7.