Chattanooga of all places to have this — I had no idea it was even a thing, let alone the…
A G.I. taken prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge, Kurt Vonnegut was held by the Germans in Schlachthof Fünf, or Slaughterhouse Five, an actual slaughterhouse in the eastern German city of Dresden. This prison acted as a shelter for Vonnegut and other American prisoners when Allied planes bombed the city in mid-February 1945, killing about 25,000.
The site—popularized as the title of Vonnegut’s most famous book, which includes scenes before, during, and after the bombing—has been preserved and remains today. Though you have to schedule and pay for a tour to get inside the building, the general grounds are accessible to the public.
When I visited one evening in June, aside from some teenage skateboarders on an adjoining street, there was literally no one else around. There could be some contributing factors: Dresden isn’t as big of a tourism city as Berlin or Munich, the site is a little out of the way from the city center’s sightseeing hotspots, Slaughterhouse Five comes from an American author and hence isn’t as renowned in Germany, and/or I visited after everyone else had earlier in the day.
Whatever the reason, I’m glad I took the time to venture over and grab some people-less photos. One corner of a building was marked with a “Slaughterhouse Five” sign, as seen above and below. But, after doing some research to try to find out, I’m still not 100 percent sure that was actually it.
If you do by chance know which one was Vonnegut’s, let me know.
Enjoy!
Building that some websites say is the Slaughterhouse Five
Sign in front of the corner of a building
Staircase inside the building with the Slaughterhouse Five sign
The corner with the Slaughterhouse Five sign
A cow statue—what does it say?
The view as you approach the Slaughterhouse Five complex
The view as you approach the Slaughterhouse Five complex
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Hello Michael! I am currently touring Europe as Judas Priest’s video tech, and we’re playing Dresden today.
This city has always been memorable to me because of its connection to Vonnegut. Our tour schedule is pretty light and this has allowed me to do quite a bit exploring while on this leg of it. Yesterday we landed with a day off here and I hopped on a scooter and went exploring this beautiful city. Once I saw everything I wanted to see In the old town, I scoured online and found gps coordinates of the slaughterhouse where Vonnegut was held captive. So I scooted on over to the site and soaked in what I could of the entrance. I found it kinda neat that there is a free book donation here now. But I wasn’t satisfied and like you I wanted to know where exactly they held him. I spoke to security at the gate and the guards didn’t speak a lick of English. So I flagged down someone walking out of a building asking if they spoke English and to my surprise no only did he speak English but he was the local promoter to the Judas Priest show I would be working the next day. Not only that, strangely and coincidentally, this slaughter house I was currently at is actually the venue hosting our concert here.
After explaining to them what I was here for, the promoter nor his companion had any idea who Vonnegut was or what I was talking about. But then one of the guards chimed in exclaiming that he knew the book and that the book is shite. He then holds up a German copy of the novel. I was then allowed to walk in they turned some lights on for me point down stairs and said I had all access to investigate the area. And that the room I was looking for was down there.
I then walked through an area now used for coat check and found a dark creepy room. Initially I had reservations about walking in bc my phone was not giving me enough light and it was pretty spooky. Luckily I found another light switch and sure enough found an old tile room that seemed like it was an old freezer and was the actual room that Kurt was in during the bombing of Dresden.
It was all so surreal.
I took a few photos of it that I’ll share with you if you respond. As I haven’t been able to find any pictures of it anywhere online.
Thanks for sharing your travels mate, I look forward to sharing these photos with another fellow explorer and appreciated of my favorite author.
Cheers
Taco