Dachau’s infamous concentration camp was one of the most interesting parts of this trip so far. While not the most brutal or deadly by pure statistics, it was the first Nazi concentration camp, created on March 22, 1933, and the longest running, remaining in operation for 12 years before being liberated by US Forces on April 29, 1945. The camp, while large sections of it were destroyed by the new German government after the war, has survived in some ways. It’s original barracks were torn down, but the two crematorium buildings (one of which was home to a gas chamber) have survived. The gate leading into the camp remains intact, as do it’s walls. The most interesting part for me to learn about wasn’t necessarily the camp itself, but the surrounding area we did not visit. The camp was attached to a plantation, in all likelihood to grow food for Nazi soldiers, and was also home to a factory where prisoners would make gunpowder and ammunition to support the war effort, after war had broken out. Places like this have me question how often sabotage occurred in these camps, and how the Nazis accounted for it.
The last section of the camp was the SS training grounds. Hitler’s secret police had created a literal police state in the early days of his reign, and this section was devoted to training more SS troops for the cause, either training them to manage the concentration camps that would follow in this one’s wake, or for battlefield combat. Interestingly, these buildings were not destroyed by the German government, but were instead occupied by American forces for over 15 years after the war had ended, and are now used for training by the current Dachau police force for their training, as a pragmatic measure. The history of it’s early inhabitants, “enemies of the state”, being politicians and journalists, was interesting, as was their gradual progress from individual, high-profile arrests, to general mass arrests of groups.
The second portion of the day was spent at Audi’s plant in Ingolstadt. The plant itself was probably the most visually interesting out of the three we’ve toured. It was a treat to see the automation that went into each part of the process, and there wasn’t any stage of human interaction where the employees needed to do anything other than stand up, due to automation lifting the incomplete car above the heads of employees for undercarriage work. Like the other two, Audi does not work in surplus, making everything on demand, or “just in time”. According to them, they produce 2,000 cars a day, which is significant compared to the other two factories (The Mercedes-Benz plant located in Stuttgart produces roughly 900 a day), but those numbers make sense when considering that Audi employs 3 round the clock shifts, rather than just one day shift. Once again, they use a litany of tools that utilize the advantages of both man and machine. One thing I noticed that seems inefficient is the need to remove the trunk door after it’s already installed to continue doing work on the interior of the car. Why not just wait to install the trunk door? Am I misunderstanding what the tour guide is saying? Maybe.
The coolest part of the Audi trip overall was definitely the museum. Many of the cars on display there are older than my grandparents, and you would never know just by looking at them. Beautiful cars, all around. This picture is of the dashboard wiring of an Audi Type M, I believe. As an electrical guy, this caught my eye, the wire insulation is braided. It looks nice, but could be deterimental in the event of a fire.
