Hello - we would like to tour Mauthausen concentration camp but feel we need a good guide to help us understand the experience. Does anyone know of a good private guide, similar to Pavel Batel who leads excellent tours of Terezin, or Dark History Tours' guide Herr Simon who leads a tour of Dachau?
Thank you.
You can get a tour on the following website: http://tourguides.viator.com/sightseeing-tours-austria-linz-1221.aspx
They are relatively expensive but can provide transportation to and from Mauthausen from Linz and many other regional cities if needed.
If you have transportation to get there, you can get a tour at the Mauthausen Memorial: Booking of guided tours
Tel.: Tuesday to Friday, 09:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; +43-(0)7238-2269-35
E-mail: teres.stockinger@bmi.gv.at
Thank you so much David, that's exactly what I needed. We don't have transportation to it's perfect. Thank you -
The overpriced Viator tour doesn't include any actual tour of the memorial. You get an audio guide.
For a human tour of Mauthausen, you have to arrange it with the memorial directly. The tour guides are Austrian youth who are selected for this assignment as part of their mandatory national service. This is a part of a strategy in Austria to make sure this type of horror doesn't happen again.
If you are Jewish, you might want to contact the Jewish Welcome Service for more info.
There is another possibility , perish the thought . You could do a bit of study and preparation , and visit independently . Needless to say , this is my way of traveling , both at home and abroad . The only issue , as I see it , specific to Mauthausen , is the transportation to the site . A car would be best , allowing you to visit the floor of the quarry and the camp proper , without having to walk the infamous " stairway of death " . Then again , doing that would greatly impact your understanding of this horrific place . We came from Vienna by rail ( not hard to contrive ) and getting a taxi to the site ( and return from the train station ) was simple . Consider this option .
Thank you Emily, that is very good information. We wanted an in-person guide. While I am sure my teenage daughter would like a tour by an Austrian youth, I was hoping for a scholar on the camp, as those I mentioned in my original post.
And Steven, we do not have a car.
Thank you for your responses.
Mauthausen is a very complicated site, I agree that you should have a guide. You can get there by bus/taxi from Linz. I toured it on my own, taking a taxi from Linz (about 10euro each way). If I return, I will hire a guide on-site.
Judy: Here is a link to a previous post I made regarding logistics to visit Mauthausen. You should be able to arrange a guide through the memorial.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/travel-logistics-linz-to-mauthausen-memorial
Darrel - your post on the other thread was fantastically informative and helpful. Thank you so much.
