The Sonnenwiese (engl. Sun Meadow), a former old people’s nursing home, was bought by the Lebensborn association in 1941. Its maximum capacity was 170 but, on average, it housed 130 children, most of them under the age of three.
“The care of the children was taken over by up to 20 sisters, three learning sisters, ten nursing students and three educators. The home ‘Sonnenwiese’ also played a role in the ‘Germanization’ of foreign children from Poland, Yugoslavia and Norway – reliable figures are not available here. Most foreign children came from Norway, mostly by air. In 1943/44, 200 children were brought from Oslo to Germany, of which 150 were recorded in Kohren-Sahlis. Not only abducted children but also anonymously released (illegitimate) children were housed in the home. Also, some children from Norway were the children of Wehrmacht soldiers that were sent to Germany with the consent of the Norwegian mothers and under pressure from their families.”
Sonnenwiese was primarily a children’s home (not a maternity hospital) and it was much better equipped than some urban children’s homes. Nurses, housemaids, kitchen maids and laundry room staff were regular employees; the doctor was called if there was a need for one. The sisters’ and the director’s salaries were above the national average. After the war ended, the home was closed and the children were taken to foster homes. The agony of the residents and their birth families continued because of the GDR policy not to reveal the identities of Lebensborn children.