Dachau

Dachau concentration camp

Dachau, city, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. It lies on the Amper River, just northwest of Munich. First mentioned in 805, it remained a small market town until the 20th century, attaining civic status in 1934. Dachau is situated on a hill, on the summit of which are the castle of the Wittelsbachs and a parish church (1625). The city’s picturesque natural setting has long attracted landscape painters. Industries include the production of paper, cardboard, electrical equipment, textiles, and ceramics. In 1933 the first concentration camp set up by the Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel) was opened on the site of a former ammunition factory on the outskirts of Dachau. A museum and memorial chapels were opened in the 1960s. See Dachau (concentration camp). Pop. (2003 est.) 39,474.