Berga | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Coordinates: 50°45′N 12°10′E / 50.750°N 12.167°E | |
Country | Germany |
State | Thuringia |
District | Greiz |
Town | Berga-Wünschendorf |
Area | |
• Total | 43.49 km2 (16.79 sq mi) |
Elevation | 229 m (751 ft) |
Population (2022-12-31) | |
• Total | 3,218 |
• Density | 74/km2 (190/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
Postal codes | 07980 |
Dialling codes | 036623 |
Website | Stadt-Berga.de |
Berga/Elster is a former town in the district of Greiz, in Thuringia, Germany. On 1 January 2024 it became part of the town Berga-Wünschendorf.[1] It is situated on the White Elster river, 14 km southeast of Gera.
Within the German Empire (1871–1918), Berga/Elster was part of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
During World War II, a slave labor camp called "Berga an der Elster"[2] was operated here to dig 17 tunnels for an underground ammunition factory. Workers were supplied by Buchenwald concentration camp and from a POW camp, Stalag IX-B; the latter contravened the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention and the Hague Treaties. Many prisoners died as a result of malnutrition, sickness (including pulmonary disease due to dust inhalation from tunnelling with explosives), and beatings,[3] including 73 American POWs.[4][5]
Berga an der Elster was a slave labor camp where 350 U.S. soldiers were beaten, starved, and forced to work in tunnels for the German government. The soldiers were singled out for "looking like Jews", for "sounding like Jews", for having names that "sounded Jewish", or they were dubbed undesirables, according to survivors. More than 100 soldiers perished at the camp or on a forced death march.