Built in 1937 as accommodation for workers building a nearby training camp, the camp was formerly designated Stalag XI-B in September 1939. The first prisoners held at the camp were Polish, but were swiftly followed by French and Belgians. By the end of 1940, 40,000 Prisoners of War were registered to the camp, though many of these were assigned to nearby work camps, and the camp itself only housed around 2,500 inmates.



In July 1941 the first Soviet POWs arrived at the camp and were sent to a distinct area designated Stalag XI-D. Conditions in the Soviet camp were poor, and soliders had to live in dug outs. Conditions became so appalling that Stalag XI-D was dissolved in July 1942 and incorporated into the main camp XI-B.



In September 1944, the former site of Stalag XI-D was designated as the new destination of Stalag 357, which had moved from Poland. Italian POWS constructed the new part of the camp, which largely held British and Commonwealth inmates.



The camp was liberated by British forces on 16 April 1945.