Day 11 - Schloss Mühldorf to Mauthausen - 🇩🇪Donaueschingen to Prague🇦🇹🇨🇿

September 17, 2019

Day 11 - Schloss Mühldorf to Mauthausen

Today was both a beautiful day to ride but also a somber reminder of man’s cruelty to man. We started the day after spending the night in an old country manor. We retraced our steps back to the river but in so doing we ended up back tracking when all we had to do was make a left hand turn and then go straight in the centre of Feldkirchen and we would have been on the trail. Instead we had a little WAA ( wandering around aimlessly) time of 6km. Fortunately it didn’t matter since today was another easy, slightly downhill ride, on a great paved surface and with a good tail wind. Our 60km seemed to fly by. The coffee stop today was in Linz a larger city along the way. We tried to tour a bit on our bikes but between the pedestrians, cobblestone roads, trams and tram lines running in 2 directions it proved to be a bit tough so we gave up. Once back on the trail we cruised into Mauthausen for the night. We picked this spot so we could visit a memorial created to honour the memory of those who died in the camps during WWII. This camp was established in 1938 near a quarry so the prisoners were used as forced labour. Most of the prisoners were Russian and Polish but there were many other nations as well. The main focus was as a work camp run by the SS not as an extermination camp for Jews. Nonetheless there was a gas chamber and a crematorium on-site. The camp physician was a piece of work. He treated his patients horribly and even conducted experiments on the prisoners. He was hanged for his crimes after the war. Our visit was a somber one but it is important to remember the past so not to repeat it, and to honour the memory of those who died here (81,000). Rest In Peace.

Waiting to depart Schloss Mühldorf this morning.

A village on the south side of the river.

The stairway of death. Prisoners were forced to carry huge granite blocks up these stairs.

There is a memorial garden where many nations and private donors have placed monuments. This statue is from Slovenia and I think it best captures what went on here.

The gates through which the prisoners marched not knowing what horrors lay ahead.

The US army liberated this camp in 1945. The commandant was shot trying to escape. He ultimately died of his wounds but before doing so he admitted to what went on here.

A Polish prisoner was given this bike by some nuns from Linz upon liberation. He and 2 friends would not wait to be returned home rather they road this bike back to Poland. He kept it until he died and now it is here in the museum.

The room of names. This is not unlike the Vietnam museum in Washington DC. These black shapes are lit through the names of the 81,000 who died here.

Sunset over the Danube from our restaurant.

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 643 km (399 miles)

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