With the Ordensburg Vogelsang high above the Eifel National Park, the National Socialists once demonstrated their inhuman arrogance. Today, the site is an "International Place (IP) for Tolerance, Diversity and Peaceful Coexistence". A place to experience history, experience nature and shape the future.
Visitors have the best view of Vogelsang, a place steeped in history, and the beauty of the Eifel National Park from the viewing platform of the 48-metre-high Vogelsang Tower. A historic spiral staircase leads up to the top, before the view then sweeps over the grounds in the middle of the densely overgrown forests, where nature has been left to its own devices for 15 years now.
More than 70 years ago, the National Socialists had one of their largest structures ever built here, high above Lake Urft. The complex is still completely intact and is now a listed building. During daily guided tours of the approximately 100-hectare site, which was last used by the Belgian armed forces as a military training area, visitors learn about the history and architecture of Ordensburg Vogelsang.
Crimes in European history
The focal point is the modern visitor center in the historic Vogelsang IP Forum, an international meeting place and research facility. The permanent exhibition "Destination: Herrenmensch. Nazi castles between fascination and crime" explores the social question of how the greatest crime in European history could come about. Concrete actions of the perpetrators are examined as well as the perspective of the victims.
However, the Vogelsang IP Forum is not only committed to the past, but also to the present and future. In addition to guided tours of the permanent exhibition, the Vogelsang IP Academy therefore regularly organizes workshops, seminars and training courses on historical and political topics. There is also a regular KulturCafé, where people can talk to each other, and events in the nostalgic 1000-seat cinema.
Since the Eifel National Park was founded in 2004, the Vogelsang IP Forum has also been home to the National Park Center and thus a second large permanent exhibition. Visitors are greeted by the "Sound of Nature" in the "Wildnis(t)räume" exhibition. Trees rustle gently in the wind, birds chirp and leaves rustle softly. Those who are not out and about in the national park with the ranger can experience nature with all their senses and make surprising discoveries. On a total of 2,000 square meters, visitors are guided through fascinating water worlds, they perceive the environment through the compound eye of an insect and suddenly find themselves face to face with a huge red deer, which forms the largest population in the Eifel here with eleven animals per square kilometer. Like the entire Vogelsang IP Forum site, including the catering facilities, visitor and conference center, the "Wildnis(t)räume" exhibition is also barrier-free. It provides information in four languages about what has happened over the centuries in the "primeval forest of tomorrow". After all, nature is also a key issue for the future.
