Camp Quedlinburg was a POW camp built in September 1914 located 2 kilometers north of Quedlinburg, Germany, during the First World War. From 1914 to 1922, the camp housed 12,000 to 18,000 prisoners of war on average.Wozniak, Thomas (2011): „... das Lager ist in jeder Beziehung musterhaft ...“ Kriegsgefangene des Ersten Weltkriegs in Quedlinburg (1914–1922). Jahrbuch für die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands (57): 125–154, here p. 125. Around 27,000 people lived in the neighbouring city of Quedlinburg at that time. There were three official branch offices in Staßfurt, and AscherslebenRapports des délégués du gouvernement espagnol sur leurs visites dans les camps de prisonniers français en Allemagne 1914–1917. Paris 1918, pp. 291-293. as well as other unofficial offices in Egeln, Halberstadt, Schönebeck, Groß Rodensleben, Schadeleben and Hedersleben.

Camp The camp was built on 104 hectares of land with 48 barracks for the prisoners. Barbed wire fences were erected to prevent escape attempts. In eight double rows, there were three barracks on each side of the gable. To the northeast, there were eight barracks for the guards, and on the western side of Ditfurter Weg, a number of large administrative buildings. At the northwest of the camp were three isolated sick shelters. Guard towers with machine guns stood in the middle of each long side and at strategically important points. The wooden barracks were about 52 meters long and 12 to 15 meters wide. The interior of the barracks was sparsely furnished. Each prisoner slept in an approximately 80 cm wide, 2 metre long wooden bed on straw sacks covered with woollen blankets. The barracks were divided into halves by transverse walls, each heated by an oven in the middle. At the southwest end of a block of six barracks was a kitchen building.

During the war, mainly Russian, French, Belgian and English, and also Italian soldiers were interned since 1917. From the beginning they were used to build up the camp and later as workers in labour detachments, especially in agriculture.Dienemann, Martina; Wozniak, Thomas (2009): Das Quedlinburger Kriegsgefangenenlager des Ersten Weltkrieges in französischsprachigen Quellen. Quedlinburger Annalen (12): 139–148. On 9 December 1918, Theodor Cizeck Zeilau (1884-1970), a Captain in the Danish Army, made an inspection visit of the camp at Quedlinburg.Dorothy Jones (2018): Quedlinburg men’s camp – Christmas in Denmark, revised 16.1.2018, p. 2, 11.6.2018.

Even after the war it was used as a transit camp. It was not until 1921 that the last Russian prisoners left the camp, whereupon it was burned down. 703 prisoners of war were buried on a special part of the Quedlinburg central cemetery.Wozniak, Thomas (2008): Militärseelsorge für ausländische Soldaten von 1914 bis 1919. Tretschock, Christoph; Wozniak, Matthias; Wozniak, Thomas (Ed.): 150 Jahre Katholische Kirche Sankt Mathilde Quedlinburg 1858–2008. Quedlinburg, pp. 73–80.

Notable prisoners

W. K. Beaman, Captain W. K. Beaman (1915): Some Experiences of a Prisoner of War in Germany, with remarks on four Prisoners' Camps. JR Army Med Corps: first published as 10.1136/jramc-25-05-02 on 1 November 1915, pp. 490–493. W. E. Burrows, Sergeant, 3rd Worcestershire RegimentGermany - Prisoner of War Camp: Quedlinburg (2018, 19 December)November 20th 1916 - Postcard from Sergeant W E Burrows to Ethel Sladden (2018, 19 December). Wallace Roy Crichton, 46th Btn, Private, WIA & Captured Bapaume 11/4/1917-Interned Limburg/Quedlinburg Saxony-repatriated England 7/1/1918 RTA 30/6/1918 Norman Cowan (1898–2003)Richard van Emden (2000): Prisoners of the Kaiser. The last POWs of the Great War. Barnsley, p. 185. Charles Darragh, 47th Battalion Private, Interned Quedlinburg- Arrived England admitted to 2nd London General Hospital 24/12/1918 Harry Nutma Derrick, 37th Btn, Private, WIA & Captured-Died 12/11/1918 at Quedlinburg Hospital- buried Niederzwehren Cemetery Cassel John Gray Donn,David G Scott: A Minute's Peace tells wartime story, in: John O'Groat-Journal from 29 March 2020. Arthur Henry Fitt (1890–1954),Peter Cox: Arthur Henry Fitt (1890 -1954) and his war (pdf, 2018, 19 December) Leonard Foust Hann, 33rd Battalion Private, WIA & Captured 7/5/1918-Interned Sachsen/Quedlinburg-arrived England admitted to King George Hospital 31/8/1918 A. M. Hussey (died Octobre 12, 1918)Memorial A M Hussey at IWM, retrieved at May 10, 2025. Norman Elliott Lampe, 32nd Btn Private, WIA & Captured Fromelles 20/7/1916-Interned Stendal/Quedlinburg-repatriated Ripon 12/1/1919 Frederick R. Lavender (died 1918), D Bty. 250th Bde, Royal Field ArtilleryLEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWI (2018, 19 December) Jacques Messiant Jacques Messiant: Le prisonnier flamand: Le roman d'une vie pendant la Grande Guerre. Éditions Ravet-Anceau 2013. Reginald Charles Prow, 20th Btn, Sergeant, WIA & Captured Mount St Quentin 31/8/1918-Interned Quedlinburg-repatriated Ripon 30/12/1918 Fred Purvis (1894–1918), Gunner, 1/5th battalion, the Northumbrian FusiliersThe Gaunless Valley in World War 1 (2018, 19 December). Théophile Radin (1889–1918)Thomas Wozniak (2011): „… das Lager ist in jeder Beziehung musterhaft …“. Kriegsgefangene des Ersten Weltkriegs in Quedlinburg (1914–1922), Jahrbuch für die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands 57 (2011), pp. 125–154, here p. 125. Marcel Riegel Ernest Simonsen, 47th Btn, Private, WIA & Captured 5/4/1918-Interned Quedlinburg-repatriated Ripon 30/12/1918 Henry Strachan (1898–1918), 8th Battalion Durham Light InfantryHenry Strachan on Camp-de-Quedlinburg.fr Aloïs Verleye

See also World War I prisoners of war in Germany List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany

References

Bibliography Photographs and letters Pictures from the Camp Quedlinburg Germany - Prisoner of War Camp: Quedlinburg, from The Badsey Society]

Memoirs

Richard Charles Patrick: A Minute's Peace: Finding my WWI Grandfather. 2020. .

Secondary works , , , , Dorothy Jones: Quedlinburg men’s camp – Christmas in Denmark. Revised 16.1.2018.

External links

Quedlinburg: German Empire POW Camp during the Great War Find of the month August: A POW Camp in the First World War The Quedlinburg POW Camp Orchestra List of PoW from Red Cross Site on the Quedlinburg camp