Berga | |
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 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Berga | |
  Berga  Berga | |
| Coordinates:50°45′N12°10′E / 50.750°N 12.167°E /50.750; 12.167 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Thuringia |
| District | Greiz |
| Town | Berga-Wünschendorf |
| Area | |
• Total | 43.52 km2 (16.80 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 229 m (751 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31) | |
• Total | 3,218 |
| • Density | 73.94/km2 (191.5/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 (German pronunciation:[ˈbɛʁɡa]) is a former town in thedistrict of Greiz, inThuringia,Germany. On 1 January 2024 it became part of the townBerga-Wünschendorf.[1] It is situated on theWhite Elster river, 14 km southeast ofGera.
Within theGerman Empire (1871–1918), Berga/Elster was part of theGrand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
DuringWorld War II, a slavelabor camp called "Berga an der Elster"[2] was operated here to dig 17 tunnels for an underground ammunition factory. Workers were supplied byBuchenwaldconcentration camp and from aPOW camp,Stalag IX-B; the latter contravened the provisions of theThird Geneva Convention and theHague Treaties. Many prisoners died as a result ofmalnutrition, 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 forceddeath march.
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