Pirna part one of two

http://www.ceepackaging.com
http://www.pbn.com.pl
http://www.youtube.com/alanheath

Pirna is located near the Elbsandsteingebirge in the Elbe valley, where the nearby rivers Wesenitz, in the north, and Gottleuba to the south, flow into the Elbe. Pirna is also called Tor zur Sächsischen Schweiz (gate to the Saxon Switzerland). The Sächsische Weinstraße, which goes from Pirna over Pillnitz, Dresden, and Meißen to Diesbar-Seußlitz, was dedicated in 1992. In August 2002, the city suffered great damage in the widespread flooding in Europe at the time.

In 1837, steamship travel began on the upper Elbe. A few years later, a railway line connecting Dresden and Pirna opened. Pirna became an industrial city in 1862 with the building of factories. Mechanical engineering, glass, cellulose and rayon production also expanded. In 1875, the sandstone Elbbrücke (bridge on the Elbe) was completed. During the First World War Pirna became a garrison and the engineer battalions 12 and 5 of the Royal Saxon field artillery regiment No. 64 were billeted on Rottwerndorfer Straße. In 1922/23, the city absorbed several municipalities including Posta, Niedervogelgesang, Obervogelgesang, Copitz, Hinterjessen, Neundorf, Zuschendorf, Rottwerndorf and Zehista. The population then totalled 30,000 inhabitants.

From early 1940, until end of June 1942 a part of Sonnenstein castle in Pirna was converted into a euthanasia killing center. A gas chamber and crematorium were installed in the cellar of the former men's sanitary (building C 16). A high brick-wall on two sides of the complex shielded it from outside while a high hoarding was erected on the other sides. Four buildings were located inside the shielding. They were used for offices, living rooms for the personnel etc. Sleeping quarters for the "burners" (men who burned the bodies) were provided for in the attic of building C 16. It is possible that other sections of the buildings were also used by T4.

From end of June 1940 until September 1942 approximately 15,000 persons were killed in the scope of the euthanasia program and the Sonderbehandlung 14f13. The staff consisted of about 100 persons. One third of them were ordered to the extermination camps in occupied Poland, because of their experiences in deception, killing, gassing and burning innocent people.

There they were trained by the killing groups who mounted the killing machinery in the later camps like Treblinka from TishBeAv 1942 and the others. This was kept unrecognised until 1989 in Germany, but after that there was created a Stiftung in order to have a remembrance of that catastrophe being built which was erected on June 2000.

During August / September 1942 the Sonnenstein killing center was liquidated and incriminating installations such as gas chamber installations and crematorium ovens dismantled. From October 1942 the buildings were used as a military hospital.


My channel is one of the most prolific from Poland, although not amongst the most visited. With almost one film per day, one may be forgiven for thinking I do nothing else but I do have a day job as well. I have produced around 1,000 original films, most in English but also in Polish, French, Italian, Spanish and the occasional hint of German and Hebrew. My big interest in life is travel and history but I have also placed films on other subjects

Please feel free to ask questions in the public area or to comment on things you disagree with. Sometimes there are mistakes because I speak without preparation. If I see the mistakes myself, I make this clear in the text. Please also leave a star rating!

There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- http://www.ceepackaging.com - the international platform for the packaging industry in this region focusing on the latest innovations, trends, design, branding, legislation and environmental issues with in-depth profiles of major industry achievers.

Most people may think packaging pretty boring but it possibly effects your life more than you really imagine!

Central and Eastern European Packaging examines the packaging industry throughout this region, but in particular in the largest regional economies which are Russia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Austria. That is not to say that the other countries are forgotten, they are not, but obviously there is less going on. However the fact that there are so many travel related films here is not from holidays but from business trips attending trade fairs around the region. Every packaging trade fair is a new excuse to make another film!

In 1997 I founded Polish Business News http://www.pbn.com.pl .There are a number of business related films here and I intend to do many more on CRM (customer relations management).

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Pirna
• Sonnenstein
• Elbsandsteingebirge
• Elbe
• Tor
• zur
• Sächsischen
• Schweiz
• Saxon
• Switzerland
• Sächsische
• Weinstraße

[Ramaonia]

Not even I knew those facts and Pirna is my hometown. Thx for the video. ;)

[alanheath]

Thank you for your nice comment. Next time I go, I hope to be better prepared. As usually I just spoke off the top of my head!

[Ramaonia]

Wow, really?? You should be a historian! That's a lot you know about the history of Pirna "just spoken off the top of your head". :D

[alanheath]

I would like to think I am a historian!

I did an interview on the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 and whilst I was in Pirna, I wanted to look at the Sonnenstein murder 'facility' too.  I have done quite a lot on the Nazi and DDR periods which I have published on this site!

[Boczow]

Have you go to Vohenstrauss? Good wideo, 5 stars...Cinco estrellas, vosotros tenéis muy buena video cámara.... Au revoir =-)

[alanheath]

I may have been there but I don't know!! The only street I know the name of is the one where my friends live!

[weeknightingale]

Very interesting! Beautiful places always seem to have such ironic fates.

[5micky2]

Picturesque place hiding yet another monstrous crime. Thank you for bringing to our attention the places where early experiments with mass gassing took place. It puts the Nazis greatest crimes in some sort of historical perspective. As your films help show, these killing methods didnt just suddenly happen, but were developed over time. Accumulated knowledge gave rise to specialist teams who were moved around to train others in mass murder.. This was a legitimate career path for some!

[Inspektisto]

Gdyby ktoś mnie zapytał gdzie chciałbyś mieszkać człowieku? Bez wachania odparłbym w Pirnie! Tam żyć i tam umrzeć.To właśnie w tym mieście poznałem niezwykłych przedstawicieli klasy robotniczej i inteligencji pracującej.To właśnie tam

poznałem niekonwencjonalne metody walki z kontrrewolucją i zaściankowością.

Pirna pozostanie w mym sercu na wieki.Czuwaj!

[Arnavqaz]

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lovely! lovely! lovely!