DB Museum to Exhibit Auschwitz Album: Rail’s Holocaust Role Detailed

Deutsche Bahn Museum hosts the Auschwitz Album exhibition, detailing the Reichsbahn’s role in the Holocaust. This initiative promotes historical responsibility and builds public trust.

January 21, 2026 9:39 pm

🛑 Key Takeaways:

Deutsche Bahn’s museum in Nuremberg will exhibit the Auschwitz Album, a rare photographic record of the Holocaust, from January 25 to April 26, 2026.
The exhibition details the logistical role of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in deportations, using the album’s 193 photographs as primary evidence.
This initiative is part of DB’s corporate engagement with its predecessor’s history, including its recent support for restoring a Reichsbahn freight car at Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial.

NUREMBERG, GERMANY – The Deutsche Bahn (DB) Museum will host a temporary exhibition centered on the Auschwitz Album, the only known surviving visual documentation of the arrival and selection process at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. The exhibition, running from January 25 to April 26, 2026, directly confronts the role of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the Holocaust, the industrial-scale genocide planned at the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942.

Category	Specification / Detail
Exhibition	The Auschwitz Album and the Railway Dimension of the Holocaust
Venue	Deutsche Bahn (DB) Museum, Nuremberg
Exhibition Dates	January 25, 2026 – April 26, 2026
Key Artifact	Auschwitz Album: 56 pages, 193 photographs
Key Stakeholders	DB Museum, Yad Vashem, Deutsche Bahn AG
Historical Context	Auschwitz liberation: Jan 27, 1945 (~7,000 survivors found)
Associated Cost	Standard museum admission: 10 EUR

Operational & Technical Details

The exhibition focuses on the logistical function of the German state railway, the Deutsche Reichsbahn, in facilitating the Holocaust. The core content is the Auschwitz Album, which documents the arrival of Hungarian Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau in the summer of 1944. Its 193 photographs provide a step-by-step record of the deportation process, from disembarkation from freight cars to the selection process on the ramp.

The exhibition is complemented by a documentary on a related 2024 project supported by Deutsche Bahn: the restoration of an original Reichsbahn freight car at the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel. This car is a central component of the memorial to the millions of Jews deported from across Europe. The exhibition uses these elements to illustrate how existing rail infrastructure and rolling stock were repurposed for systematic mass murder.

Market Impact Analysis

This exhibition is a significant act of corporate historical responsibility for Deutsche Bahn, the successor to the Reichsbahn. By directly funding and hosting educational initiatives about its predecessor’s role in Nazi crimes, DB strengthens its corporate identity as an entity transparent about its past. This strategy of direct confrontation with history serves to build public and institutional trust, differentiating it from organizations that obscure difficult historical legacies. The project reinforces DB’s relationship with key international institutions like Yad Vashem, positioning the company as a responsible global partner committed to historical education and remembrance.

FAQ: Quick Facts

What is the significance of the Auschwitz Album?

It is considered the only surviving photographic evidence that documents the arrival and selection process of Jewish deportees at the Auschwitz-Birkenau ramp. It was used as evidence in the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials.

When will the exhibition be open to the public?

The exhibition runs from January 25, 2026, to April 26, 2026. Free guided tours are scheduled for International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan 25) and every Sunday from February 8.