Neuengamme is a quarter of Hamburg, located in the Bergedorf borough, near the river Dove Elbe (a tributary of the river Elbe). In this rural quarter, part of the Vierlanden,consisting of the villages Curslack, Kirchwerder, Neuengamme and Altengamme, the population is at 3,500. Neuengamme is located in the southeastern part of Hamburg. In 2007 the quarter had a total area of 18.6 km².
Agriculture began in the 17th and 18th centuries with the cultivation of barley and hops. Today, flowers, fruits and vegetables of various kinds are cultivated. The Vierlanden farmers ever since sold and sell their products on markets in Hamburg.
In September 1938 the German Earth & Stone Works Company bought the defunct brickyard (German: Klinkerwerk) in Neuengamme. On December 13, 1938 the Neuengamme concentration camp was set up with 100 prisoners from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In April 1940, the SS and the city of Hamburg signed a contract for the construction of a larger brick factory, and on June 4, the Neuengamme concentration camp became an independent main camp. On April 26, 1945, about 10,000 surviving prisoners were loaded into four ships: the passenger liners Deutschland and Cap Arcona and two large steamers, SS Thielbek and Athen. The prisoners were in the ships’ holds for several days without food or water. On May 3, 1945, the ships were attacked by three squadrons of Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoons. The RAF believed the ships carried SS personnel who were being transferred to Norway, intelligence that the ships carried concentration camp prisoners did not reach the squadrons in time to halt the attack. The Thielbek was sunk and the Cap Arcona and Deutschland set on fire, they both later sank; survivors who jumped into the water were strafed by cannon fire from the RAF aircraft. Thousands of dead were washed ashore just as the British Army occupied the area; the British forced German prisoners-of-war and civilians to dig mass graves to dispose of the bodies. On May 2, 1945, the SS and the last prisoners left the Neuengamme camp.
After Germany’s defeat, the British Army used it until 1948 as an internment centre. In 1948 the facility was transferred to Hamburg prison authority which tore down the barracks and built a new prison cell block. After being operated as two prisons by the Hamburg authorities from 1950 to 2004, and a period of uncertainty, the site now serves as a memorial.
