The Liberation AR

This app is provided by Bayerischer Rundfunk.

The day of the liberation in Dachau. Through Augmented Reality people who have been witnessing the day of April 29, 1945, will appear right in front of you, in the area of today`s Memorial Site. In this very spot where it all happened. 

There are numerous photos of the liberation. We still do know where some of them have been taken and who the people are that have been photographed. While those witnesses tell you their stories you can be looking right in their faces. Through historical photo overlays you can experience the moment on this very day, right in this spot.

We appreciate your feedback and your review.

HOW DOES THE APP WORK?

Since it is an audio-visual App we recommend to use it with headphones. The Memorial Site provides several information boards with QR codes which you can scan with your smartphone or tablet. You will then get the directions to the spots for possible historical photo overlays. The audio track will guide you across the site while listening to the voices of the witnesses on April 29, 1945.

You can also use the App at home on www.br.de/theliberation   

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

On April 29, 1945, US troops arrive at Dachau. At that time 32.000 prisoners are there, starving, emaciated, sick. Each day hundreds of people are dying. Dead bodies are piling up next to the overcrowded barracks.

But when the US soldiers enter the camp for the first time in the afternoon of the 29th of April 1945 they do not have any idea of the situation. They are accompanied by war correspondents who describe their impressions in their reports later on. A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross is among them. He, too, will never forget the day of the liberation. Like the many prisoners, some of which become fully aware of the moment while others are far too weakened to realize that they were finally liberated.

All these people talk about this special day on “The Liberation” and some of them can even be seen on the historical photos, which you can position through the Augmented Reality App on today´s Memorial Site.

The App was developed by Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting Company) in cooperation with Dachau Memorial Site. The Memorial Site has been able to work on the project thanks to financial support from the Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft (Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future).


WHAT EXACTLY IS AUGMENTED REALITY, AR?
Augmented reality means extended reality. With AR it is possible to position historical pictures together with an audio track in real space and real time in order to combine the present with the past.

You can see the General in full size right in front of you negotiating with SS members and the Red Cross representative. You can see  former prisoners appearing on the muster ground supporting each other or teenagers cheering behind a barbed wire fence. All you need is a smartphone or tablet and headphones.

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTIONS
Download the App preferably before you visit the Memorial Site. On site more pictures and the audio track will be downloaded. Please mind your sufficient mobile data volume.

We recommend the latest Android version.

LEGAL BASIS DATA PROCESSING
The legal basis for the data processing is Art. 6 Abs. 1 lit. e) DS-GVO. In accordance to this directive data processing is permitted without formal consent of data subject (see  Art. 7 du 8 DS-GVO),

[...] for the performance of the tasks carried out in the [...] public interest. This task represents  constitutional demands on the drafting of the functional requirement of BR. The relating educational mandate includes in accordance to  § 11 i. V. m. 2 Abs. 2 Ziff. 15. und 16. RStV information about history.

For more information, see also “privacy policy”